RWBY the Crystal Gem
by Avis5l
Summary: On their latest mission, the Crystal Gems have to leave Earth to stop a force that could destroy the universe. In this strange new world, they encounter a group of young people claiming to be training specifically to fight these monsters. Now the vicious gem-Grimm hybrid is being hunted by the Gems and their newest ally: Ruby Rose, along with the rest of team RWBY.
1. Chapter 1: Without You

"It won't be easy," said Garnet in a low voice. "I know," Pearl replied. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before!" Pearl picked up the clipboard Steven had bought her as a gift and went over the list of equipment they'd need. Ah yes, Steven. "Garnet, about Steven," Pearl began. "It's okay, I know what you're going to say," Garnet cut her off. "But, I actually agree with you." Pearl looked surprised, "really?" Garnet nodded. "Even if this mission was in this galaxy, I wouldn't want him to come. It's just too much." Pearl nodded, grateful that Garnet agreed with her. "How are going to break this to Steven?" Amethyst asked, casually transforming from a chicken to the Purple Puma, and then finally back to her self. "We'll just have to be straightforward with," Garnet sighed. "He's grown so much," Pearl reassured her, "he'll understand. Hopefully. And further more, Amethyst," Pearl turned to glare at one upside down Amethyst sprawled out on the couch. "with such a dangerous mission coming up, I'd have expected you to at least start packing WHEN WE'RE TEN MINUTES AWAY FROM LEAVING!" "Relax, P," Amethyst waved her hand nonchalantly, "I got mah whip, mah personality, and mah good looks! What more could I possibly need?" "How about something to fight a giant flying gem monster with?" Garnet asked. "Gotcha covered there, G-Squad," Amethyst said excitedly. "Remember how I got da PURPLE-COPTER?" To emphasis her point, Amethyst demonstrated by turning into the very large, very purple Purple-Copter. However, in her eagerness she didn't pay much attention to her surroundings, and as a result broke a massive hole in the window, as well as pushed Steven's bed out of the newly created hole. "Oops," Amethyst giggled. "AMETHYST! Please, TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!" But before Pearl could really get going, she was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

"Hey guys!" Steven said cheerfully. "What's going? Why's Pearl so angry? And why is my bed in a big pile on the beach?" "Umm, never mind all that right now Steven," Pearl said hastily, shooting daggers at Amethyst, who was still laughing silently. "We need to discuss our upcoming mission..." Steven started jumping up and down in excitement. "A new mission! Oh man, this will be great! We're going to fight some awesome monster and win, cause we're the Crystal Gems!" By this point, Steven was standing on top of the counter as if he was giving a speech. "We're a team! And together, with help from everyone, we'll always save the day!" Steven jumped back down and started running around in circles. "What should I pack? Will we be gone awhile? Should I bring my mom's sword? LION!" But Pearl stopped Steven before he could go any further. "Actually Steven, umm, we've decided it would be best for you to...to...stay here."

Steven looked like a wounded puppy. "But..but...stay here?" he quivered. "Yes Steven, we've decided that this mission is far too risky. In all honesty, we're not sure if we'll even-" "Pearl, that;s enough," Garnet interrupted. "Steven," she said, "this is one time, you'll need to trust us. Please don't make this difficult." Steven looked up at her and nodded very sadly. Sighing, he trudged over to the couch and sat down as the Gems gathered their gear and stepped onto the warp pad. "Good bye, Steven," said Pearl. "We'll be back as soon as we can," nodded Garnet. "And if we never do, you can have my room! Well, actually all our rooms!" Amethyst squealed as they departed. Steven could only hear a very faint Pearl scolding Amethyst before they were gone. "Oh," groaned Steven.

Steven was walking outside when he decided to call Connie. He dialed her number, but it went immediately to voice mail. Great, Steven thought, her mom probably made her turn it off during some activity or another. Feeling down, he decided to visit the one person who always made him feel better.

Steven rounded the corner and saw the sign for "It's A Wash!" Under it was one Greg Universe lying on a beach chair. "Steven!" he called as his son approached. "How's it going?" "Not too well, Dad." Steven sighed as he sat next to Greg. "The Crystal Gems left for a mission they said was too dangerous for me, so they left me here." "Oh Steven, that's too bad," Greg said. "But I gotta tell you, I'm a little relieved." Steven looked surprised. "Why's that?" he asked. "Well, it's just with all the dangerous stuff you and the Gems do, I'm glad to see that they believe something is too dangerous for you. Makes me trust them more as parental figures, you know?" Steven nodded. He knew, he just didn't like to admit it.

After saying bye to his dad, Steven didn't really feel like going home and being by himself. To make matters worse, today was some sort of holiday that Steven didn't really understand, so all the shops were closed. And by all the shops, that means the only one's Steven cared about. The Big Donut, Beach Citywalk Fries and the Arcade, all closed. Steven continued on, wishing for someone to hang out with. He looked up into the distance, and suddenly got an idea.

Running all the way, Steven eventually ended up at the barn, completely out of breath. As Steven regained his composure, he saw what looked like a downcast green triangle sulking in front of the barn. "Hey Peridot!" he called out. The former Yellow Diamond henchgem looked up. "Oh, Steven," she said as she put her head back in her crossed arms. "What's the matter, Peridot? You look sad." Steven said as he approached her. "No, you look sad!" She snapped at him. "I, on the other hand, feel just...just..., oh who am I kidding, I feel terrible, Steven!" Steven sat beside the sobbing Gem and put his arm around her. "What's wrong?" he asked in a soothing voice. "Oh, it's Lapis again," she said. "That infernal gem is once again at my throat. Now she won't talk to me, and she's locked me out of the barn!" Steven continued to comfort her. "I know how you feel. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl just left for a mission without me," he said.

Peridot suddenly sat up, a huge twinkle in her eye. "Maybe we can help each other!" And with that, she started bouncing up and down with glee. "Wait, wait, wait!" said Steven frantically, 'what're you talking about Peridot?" Peridot suddenly dove onto Steven and pinned him down. "Don't you see, you clod? It's so simple! You make Lapis forgive me, and in return I'll show you how to reunite with your precious Crystal Gems!" She jumped off and started rolling around like she was having a fit. "Wait, you can do that?" Steven asked incredulously. Peridot sat up and threw her arms wide open. "Of course I can! There's a very simple way to view the last destination used on the warp pad. Once you know that, you can teleport there and do whatever." Steven, unable to believe his luck, accepted at once. "This is great," giggled Peridot again, "so all you have to do is convince Lapis to let me back in the barn and you'll be all set!"

Steven walked up to the barn door. "Uh, Lapis? You there? It's Steven." "Don't bother," Peridot sighed. "She's surrounded in the inside with water , thus preventing any noise from entering or escaping." "Why would she do that?" Steven asked. "It's not important..." Peridot said at once, but then immediately said, "I may have spent several hours banging on the door while bawling for her to let me in." Steven, easily believing that Peridot would do such a thing, started to consider his options. "Well, what if I go in through the skylight?" "Skylight?" Peridot gasped, "how long has that been there?" "Well, we didn't have enough wood to patch up the entire hole you made with your robot, so we made it a skylight instead."

Peridot grumbled under her breath as they walked around to the side of the barn. "One problem, how will you get up there?" Peridot asked. Steven thought about it, and then got an idea "Oh, don't worry about that," he said proudly. "Here I go!" And with that battle cry he simply jumped to the roof of the barn, and gently landed a few moments later. Peridot stared in absolute disbelief. "Whaaaaaat?" she said, her jaw agape. "I'll explain later, see ya in a bit!" Steven called as he ran up to the skylight. Using his super strong muscle, and several other weak ones, Steven very slowly tried to pry open the horizontal window. After a while, Steven started to get tired and frustrated. "Ugh, stupid skylight," he said. He gave it a good swift kick, but broke it and fell through. "AAAHHHH!" Steven yelled as he fell. Luckily, he landed on a soft, yet scratchy bale of hay.

Steven stood up and looked around. Sure enough, Peridot had been absolutely correct in her assumption. A heavy wall of water was pressed against the walls and the ceiling, with the exception of the skylight. So Lapis can have some sunlight, Steven thought. Speaking of Lapis, Steven saw her curled up atop a haystack, looking halfway between meditating and sleeping. "Umm, hey Lapis," Steven said cautiously. Lapis opened one eye slightly, then both shot wide open. "Oh, Steven! What're you, uh, doing here? How, did you get here?" She asked. "Oh, well I kinda fell through the sky..hole." Steven explained as he pointed to the now empty hole devoid of any glass. "Listen Lapis, about Peridot. What exactly happened?" Lapis sighed. "Nothing happened." Steven looked shocked. "But then, why aren't you letting her inside the barn?" Lapis turned away. "It's just, I can't stand being around her this long. You have no idea how much she gets on my nerves!" Steven looked confused. "Then, why didn't you just leave for awhile and go somewhere else?" Lapis suddenly looked very sad. "Because I don't know anywhere else, this is my only home on Earth." Lapis let out a long sigh as she sat down and buried her head in her dress. "Wait, I have an idea," Steven exclaimed. "The Crystal Gems said they'd be gone for quite awhile, so you can stay at my house until we get back!" Lapis looked up. "Really?" Steven nodded. "Absolutely! The only condition is, you have to forgive Peridot and let her back inside." Lapis thought for a moment, then smiled.

The barn doors opened up and a little green Dorito was washed away by the exiting water walls. Lapis stepped out and looked at Peridot thrashing about in a two inch deep puddle, gasping for easily available breath. "You." Lapis said, pointing at Peridot. "You're forgiven." Peridot ran on all fours over to Lapis and gave her a massive hug, before instantly realizing who she was hugging and immediately broke it off. "I'm, so sorry. Please forgive that as well," Peridot said nervously on her hands and knees. "It's fine. I've been hugged by a piece of pie before. Just don't do it again." Peridot stood up and began to tear out her hair. "What is this pie everyone keeps calling me?" She asked furiously. "I'll show you later, Peridot. Right now we have a job to do!" "Of course! Let's depart!" She exclaimed, bounding down the hill. Steven said a hurried good bye to Lapis as he tried to catch up to the over excited gem.

Back in the temple, Peridot had just finished her work on the warp pad. "Alright Steven," she said. "I've got it. You'll be teleporting to this pad here. Just focus on it, or whatever it is that you do. I don't care." Peridot turned away with her eyes closed, and then immediately turned opened them again and turned back. Steven, with his cheeseburger back pack and hot dog dufflebag was just about to set off when a large pink wall suddenly appeared. "Lion, I don't have time for this," Steven said impatiently. Lion turned, and shot out a portal from his mouth. "No Lion, I don't have time to visit mom's armoury." Lion just looked at Steven. "Look, I'll be back later." Steven said. He climbed onto the warp pad. "Bye Peridot, bye Lion." Steven waved, then the warp pad took him away. "Bye, Steven." Peridot said. "Good luck in," she looked closer at the warp pad, "good luck in, Remnant."

 **(Chapter 2 coming soon!)**


	2. Chapter 2: 2 Roses and 2 Rubies?

Chapter 2 : 2 Roses and 2 Rubies?

Steven landed in the middle of a smallish grey ruin. Along the sides were pillars about as tall as he was. Steven walked over to one and saw that it had what appeared to be a chess piece. He decided to take the piece, the white king, and put it in his backpack. "Who knows? Might bring me luck," he told himself out loud. Steven stepped off the ruin and looked around in amazement. He was standing in a clearing that seemed to be between a large cliff with more ruins and a deep green forest. "Wow! This place is so cool," Steven exclaimed. After a few more minutes of taking in the sights, Steven decided he'd better find the Crystal Gems. "Hmmm," Steven said as looked around for any sign of the Gems. Steven once again looked at the cliff, and suddenly got an idea.

Steven walked over to the cliff, jumped over what appeared to be a destroyed bridge, and used his floating powers to jump to the top of the cliff. Up he went, and down he floated gently onto the cliff. "Ahhh!" Steven shrieked, as he saw what looked like a large bird head on the ground next to him. However, Steven saw that it was actually just a very oddly shaped rock. Steven turned back to look over the cliff. The forest stretched out for miles along in every direction. In the distance, Steven saw what appeared to be a large tower. Maybe a castle, even. Steven had just decided that would be a good place to start when he suddenly heard some commotion in the forest. Listening closely, Steven heard the clash of weapons and the cry of monsters. "The Gems!" he exclaimed excitedly. Wasting no more time, Steven took a deep breath and dove head first towards the forest.

Floating gently down, Steven suddenly remembered that he'd directly gone against the Gems' wishes. "Oh, Pearl and Garnet will be so disappointed," Steven groaned to himself as he reached the tree line. As Steven touched the ground, he decided it would be better to simply warp back without the Gems ever knowing that he was there. Turning around, Steven began walking through the forest back to the warp pad.

Suddenly, Steven came across a black pig-like monster. It stared at Steven, before curling up in what Steven assumed was a spin dash attack similar to Amethyst. Without hesitation, Steven pulled out his shield. The beast crashed into it and was thrown high into the air. Seizing the chance, Steven ran as fast as he could towards the warp pad. He had just made it to the clearing when he heard the monster roar behind him. Before he could do anything, Steven was knocked down by the rolling monster, completely winded. Steven lifted his head up, slightly dazed, to see the pig monster right in front of him, about to charge again.

Before the monster reached Steven, a shot was heard. The monster roared in anger right before completely disintegrating and vanishing. It got poofed, Steven thought. Steven stood up and turned around, expecting to see Pearl or even Opal standing there, confused and angry. However, he saw someone he'd never seen before. She was short, yet a bit taller than Steven, she wore a black and red outfit complete with a hooded cape, and she'd just put away what Steven thought was a scythe before it collapsed into a thin red rectangle.

"Hey, are you okay?" she called in a high pitched voice as she ran over to Steven. Steven groaned a little. "Yeah, I mean, I get run over by pig things all the time. No big deal." The girl laughed in a very cute way. "I'm sorry I didn't finish that thing earlier, but it got away when I was ambushed by an ursa." "A what?" asked Steven, looking rather perplexed. "An ursa," she repeated. "You know, big black bear looking Grimm?" Steven, not wanting to look too lost, simply nodded. "Umm, I like your bags," the girl said, gesturing to his backpack and duffle. "Oh thanks," Steven said, being rather proud of his fast food luggage. "Are you doing some hiking, or something?" the girl asked. "No," Steven said. "I was just looking for..." Oh man, Steven thought, the Gems. "Sorry," Steven said, "but I really need to get going." And with that, he turned and began running to the warp pad.

"Wait! Look out!" The girl called. "Deathstalker!" "Death what?" Steven called back, until he saw between him and the warp pad was a giant black scorpion with a large amber stinger plunging towards him.

"Run!" The girl cried in vain, as it was far too late to get away. Steven, however, simply created his bubble shield. The stinger bounced harmlessly against the surface, causing Steven to get shot away from the creature back into the woods. In the woods Steven popped the bubble and began running. He heard a couple of shots behind him, and the monsters' load roar. "Oh no!" Steven said. He decided he needed to help that small girl instead of run away. Sighing, Steven raced back towards the clearing. That is, until, he smacked into the girl running in the opposite direction. "What are you doing?" the girl asked in disbelief. "We have to get out of here!" "I don't think I can out run that thing, and it's gaurding my warp pad. We need to stop it!" The girl shook her head. "It's too powerful! We'll come back later once it's left, or with reinforcements!" "But where do we go?" Steven asked. The girl looked at him and smiled. "You can come hang out at Beacon until we're ready. Hang on tight!"

Steven looked absolutely lost. The girl had just said so many words he didn't understand, that Steven was at a complete loss for what to do. But before he could ask any of his many questions, the girl grabbed Steven in a bear hug and began running. "Hey! What're you-" But before Steven could finish, the two had turned into a red spiral and began moving at an unbelievable speed. Steven yelled, completely terrified as to what was happening. Eventually, he decided to simply close his eyes and wait for the madness to end.

"Alright, we're here!" A familiar voice said cheerfully. Steven opened his eyes, and fell into a state of awe. He was now on what appeared to be a giant floating castle. Steven felt a little sick to his stomach as he took it all in. "Here, let me help you." The red hooded girl offered a hand to Steven, which he gratefully accepted. "Feeling any better there, uhh, I'm sorry, I just realized I never caught your name." The girl said. "It's Steven," Steven said. "Well, hello Steven. Welcome to Beacon Academy. I'm Ruby." Steven was sure he'd misheard her, as she looked nothing like "Eternal Flame" Ruby. "Sorry, what was your name again?" "Ruby," she repeated. "Ruby Rose, at your service." Ruby went into a low curtsy, before accidentally tripping over herself and falling over. "Oh, whoops," she said before laughing. Steven smiled. He was starting to like this, Ruby. Whoever or whatever she was. "Here, now it's my turn to help you," he said, offering her his hand. Ruby laughed again before taking it. "So, what was with that whole bubble thing? Is that your semblance?" Ruby asked. Steven, again, looked confused. "Well, it's part of my gem power, if that's what you mean," Steven replied. "Gem power?" Ruby asked curiously. "Yeah, it's part of the power I get from my gem," Steven lifted up his shirt so that Ruby could see the piece of rose quartz. "Is that...like embedded in your skin?" Ruby asked, slightly concerned. "I guess so," Steven said, lowering his shirt again.

"Anyway, where should we go from here?"Steven asked. Ruby, shook her head out of a trance. "Of course! You can stay in Team RWBY's room! I mean probably. I mean, I'm okay with it, Yang should be fine with it, and Blake probably won't care as long as you don't bother her. It's just Weiss who may not like it. She loves rules so much I'm surprised she hasn't married them yet..." Ruby continued rambling, talking more to herself than anyone else. Steven decided she needed a minute, and calmly sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for Ruby to finish her discussion. "It's like, I wanted to have a giant bed shaped cookie so I could just take a bite if ever got hungry while studying or sleeping, but was I allowed to? Oh no, because it's "against regulations, would attract vermin, and is just plain gross!"

Ruby went on and on like this, walking around in circles and arguing with herself. Steven looked out at the amazing view of the forest from the castle, or Beacon as Ruby had called it. It really was quite beautiful, almost like something out of "The Spirit Morph" saga. Steven was just realizing how much he wished he was with Connie when Ruby suddenly reappeared and grabbed him.

"Alright, let's go!" Ruby said excitedly, marching Steven toward the main entrance. "Are you sure this will be alright?" Steven asked, a little nervous at all the thought that had to be put in before making this decision. "Oh yeah," Ruby replied happily. "Worst comes to worse, we can just outvote Weiss again like we did with the bunk beds." The entered the academy, and began talking almost like old friends. "You know," Steven said, "I once wanted a bed that was actually just a huge donut! But it turns out the sign for the Big Donut isn't an actual donut..."


	3. Chapter 3: Just Yanging Around

Chapter 3: Just Yangin' Around

"So I said, "Now that's a katana!"," Ruby exclaimed as they reached the hallway. "Wow," Steven breathed, "my dad says I have to wait until I'm a little older before I can read stuff like that and Passions of Xanxor." "Anyway, here we are," Ruby said, gesturing to a plain white door. "Cool," Steven said. "So you like, live in a school? That is so cool!" Ruby looked surprised. "Have you never heard of boarding school?" she asked. "No, I've been home schooled by the Gems my whole life," Steven said. Ruby nodded, "so, just to be clear, the Gems are like your guardians, even though you visit your dad frequently?" Steven nodded. "Okay, got it," Ruby said smiling.

Ruby stepped up to the door and peeked inside. She entered, and motioned for Steven to do the same. "Don't worry, there's no one here," she said reassuringly. Steven walked into one of the coolest rooms he'd ever seen. When Ruby had mentioned bunk beds, she failed to mention that they were literally beds stacked on top of one another and held together with rope and books. "This is so cool!" Steven exclaimed, staring at the beds. "You guys have the greatest beds ever! How did you even get those up there?" Ruby smiled in a secretive sort of way. "The power of fast paced editing and construction sound effects, Steven. Now then, other than the bathroom over there, this is pretty much it for the room."

Just then, Steven was knocked over by a rather energetic ball of fur. "Oh Zwei, get off of Steven," Ruby said, only semi-seriously. "You're dog is so cute!" Steven laughed as the small dog excitedly licked his face. "It must be nice to have a pet that doesn't suffocate you if it lies down on you." Ruby looked puzzled. "Like... a bigger Zwei?" she asked. Steven stood up, Zwei in his arms. "No, I mean Lion. He's my pet, well, lion." "Wait, you have a pet lion?" she asked excitedly. "Yeah. He's not the most obedient, but he always helps when I really need it. Here, I think I have a picture of him on my phone." Steven put down the ball of fur and dug around in his pockets for his phone. While Steven messed around trying to pull up a picture, Ruby moved Stevens' bags to beside the desk where they'd be out of the way. "Oh, here it is," Steven said. Holding out the phone, Steven and Ruby looked at a picture of the pink lion wearing shutter shades that Steven had slipped on while Lion slept. "HE'S PINK?" Ruby burst out. "Yeah. He's really soft and cuddly, although he has almost suffocated me while I sleep a couple of times. Still, he's one of my best friends. He takes me wherever I need to go on his back." Ruby couldn't handle the fact that her new friend road a fluffy pink lion around, so she simply passed out. "Umm, Ruby?" Steven asked tentatively.

An hour after Ruby had woken up, she and Steven were still swapping stories about their very different yet very interesting lives. "And so," Ruby concluded, "using Weiss' glyphs, I ran straight up the cliff with the Nevermore trapped by my scythe, and popped it's head clean off at the top." Steven looked amazed. "Wow, your friends sound so cool. I can't wait to meet them," Steven sighed. "Speaking of which," said Ruby, "I'm going to call Yang. She of all people should be back by now." Ruby stood up and pulled out her phone, which she called a scroll, and began to dial a number. "Hey sis, what's up?" A loud and cheery voice said. "Hey Yang, just wondering where everyone is," Ruby explained. "Oh well, Blake lost a bet. So right now we're in town cause I get to give her a fashion makeover. And she is looking fab!" From the scroll, Steven could hear another, monotonous yet rather embarrassed sounding voice. "Yang, I really don't think these fishnets are-" Yang cut across Blake in a hurry. "Anyway, we should probably be back in an hour or so." "Sounds great Yang! Any idea where Ice Queen is?" Yang laughed. "Library, obviously." Ruby nodded. "Just so you know, we have a guest staying with us tonight, if you're okay with that. One of my new friends." "Of course ," Yang exclaimed jubilantly. "I can't wait to meet her!" Ruby all of a sudden looked a little nervous and awkward. "Well, you see," she started, rubbing her hair anxiously, "it's actually a guy." There was a momentary silence, then a blast of excited screaming burst from the scroll. "OHMYGODOHMYGODYOUHAVEABOYSPENDINGTHENIGHT?" "Yeah, so anyway thanks bye," Ruby said rapidly as she quickly turned off the scroll.

"So, we might as well set up your bed or something, at least until the others come back," Ruby started. "That's okay," Steven replied, "I brought a sleeping bag and pillow in my hot dog duffle!" While Steven set up his gear in the one unoccupied corner of the room, Ruby a simply watched. She was completely amazed by the young alien like boy she'd met. He was so, different yet simple. He's like me, if I were from his world, Ruby thought to herself. She eventually lost herself in a day dream about her and Steven riding the giant pink lion into the sunset, fighting monsters and laughing the whole time.

CRASH! The door to the room was flung open so hard that Ruby jumped and Steven was so startled he tripped over his own feet and landed face first onto Zwei, who simply yawned and went back to sleep. And into the room burst one over excited Yang Xiao Long and one deeply humiliated Blake Belladonna, who was dressed in a very large coat. "So!" Yang shouted triumphantly, "you thought you could just casually sneak a boy in here without any consequences?" She pointed an accusatory finger at Ruby, who simply groaned at her sisters antics. "Where is the little man anyway?" Yang asked, not looking down at her feet. Ruby sighed, "he's the shivering ball on top of Zwei. I think you gave him a heart attack." Yang looked down and saw Steven, still flat on his back looking up at her in mild fright. Yang grabbed Steven's hand and pulled him up. "So you're the young stud my sister mentioned," Yang said. Steven gulped, and nodded. "Well, the name's Yang, Ruby's way cool older sister," she exclaimed as she shook Stevens' hand. "I'm Steven," he said, begining to feel a bit more confident. He had a feeling that Yang was of the same mold as Amethyst, which relaxed him much more. "Umm, can I go change now?" Blake interrupted. Yang looked mockingly appalled. "What? Don't you want to show Ruby and Steven what you're wearing?" Blake blushed deeply, and ran straight into the bathroom. "Your choice!" Yang yelled after her, "but you still have to wear it for dinner tomorrow!"

Yang turned her attention back to Steven. "So, Steven," she began, "what exactly are your intentions with my dear sister Ruby? Are you committed? Do you have a stable income? How many children are you planning on having?" Both Steven and Ruby choked at the same time. "For goodness sake, Yang" Ruby burst out, "we only just met a couple of hours ago! Plus, he's only like thirteen, plus he already has a girlfriend!" "Oh come on, Ruby!" Yang sighed. "I'm just trying to help Steven feel more comfortable, _yanging_ around with us." Yang started snickering as both Steven and Ruby rolled their eyes. Yup, definitely Amethyst, Steven thought. He turned to Ruby. "And for the record, I wouldn't call Connie my girlfriend, she's more of my..." but Steven was too embarrassed to finish his sentence.

"Well, Steven," Yang continued, "seeing as you don't have the favour of my sister, you have to pass an initiation test before I let you stay in this room!" Ruby looked almost bored and Yang's constant games. "Seriously? What are you going to make him do? Go steal all of Team JNPRs' clothes?" Yang looked excited. "Well actually, that's not a bad idea-" but Yang stopped when she got the look from Ruby. "Kidding, kidding," Yang said hurriedly. "Come on, Steven, I'll brief you on the way to the elevator!" Steven looked at Ruby, nervously. "Oh, you can always come back if it's too, well, too much Yang for you," she reassured him. Steven nodded, with a determined look on his face. He followed a snickering Yang outside just as Blake reemerged from the bathroom. "What was all that about?" Ruby asked her innocently. "Nothing," Blake said, "well, I guess you'll see at dinner tomorrow." She gestured to Stevens' bags. "So, what's the deal with all this?" Blake asked. "Oh, well it's an interesting story..." Ruby began, but was immediately interrupted by the door yet again bursting open. This time, it was a very irritated Weiss.

"Hey Weiss!" Ruby greeted her, cautiously. "How was the library?" Weiss looked at her with a look of the utmost annoyance. "Well, I had just finished my essay on the various properties of dust, when all of a sudden some low brow spills coffee all over my paper! And now by the time I get the removal product, the stain will be so big that I'll have to rewrite several pages of it!" "Oh, that's too bad," Ruby said apologetically, "but on the bright side a stain won't get in the way of such a flawless paper." Ruby and Blake both chuckled under their breath, Weiss, completely missing this, smiled arrogantly. "Of course, it is a well written paper. I mean, it's on dust after all! And who knows more about dust than-" Weiss suddenly tripped over Steven's backpack, which had fallen into the middle of the room. "What is this bag doing here?" She demanded furiously, then added "and who's bag is it anyway?"

"Well, you see..." Ruby once again began, but was interrupted by Yang reentering the room. "Hey all!" she waved as she greeted Weiss jovially. "CAN'T I EVER EXPLAIN SOMETHING WITHOUT SOMEONE ENTERING THE ROOM AND INTERRUPTING ME?" Ruby screamed, tired of never getting to explain things. The rest of Team RWBY looked shocked, and immediately sat down in a semi circle. "Okay Ruby," Blake said, "you have are undivided attention." And so, Ruby began explaining all she knew about the mysterious young boy called Steven Universe.

Just as Ruby was wrapping things up, Steven reentered the room. "Uhh, Steven, where exactly have you been?" Ruby asked. Steven stood there, wearing a spinning bow tie, his pants on backwards, what looked like makeup that burned fire, and he'd somehow grown an afro to rival that of Garnet. "Just where Yang told me to go," he explained. "I went down to Fort Port!"


	4. Chapter 4: Catch Up and Caught

Chapter 4: Catch Up and Caught

Steven walked in the room with so much swagger he could make Amethyst blush. "So, uh, how's it going?" he asked the small group. They all just continued staring, blinded at the sure rambunctiousness that was the result of a visit to Fort Port. Steven, not wanting constant staring for the entire evening, quickly took off all the swag and put it in his back pack, and then quickly fixed his hair. He then joined the small group, taking a seat part way between Ruby and Yang. "So, uh, Steven that's Weiss. Weiss, Steven," Ruby said, trying to initiate a conversation. Weiss did something between a nod and a bow, and Steven replied likewise.

"Well, this is officially awkward, so I have a plan!" Yang proclaimed. The others turned to look at her. "Here's how things are going to go down. We'll each take a turn chatting with Steven, say ten minutes or so. During that, everyone else goes about their business as usual. Capiche?" Everyone stared at Yang. "What?" she asked. "I thought it was a pretty practical plan!" "It's just, I can't believe you made that entire speech without also making some bad pun!" Ruby said, immediately getting hit in the head by Yang's pillow. "Alright!" Yang smiled, "so Ruby will go first, then Blake, then yours truly, and then finally Zwei!" "Hey! What about me?" Weiss asked outraged. "Well, you can go after Zwei if there's still time, I guess," Yang said thoughtfully. "Who made you in charge of scheduling?" Weiss demanded. "Well you see, I'm the leaders' sister, which makes me vice president. I'm also the coolest, hottest and funniest member of this team. AND, I once had my palm read and it was foreseen that someday I'd have one of my arms replaced by an awesome cybernetic robot one! So unless President Ruby has an objection, that's the way it ism Snow Angel!" Weiss, looking absolutely furious at being called Snow Angel, turned in desperation to Ruby. Unfortunately, Ruby was on the floor laughing hysterically at her sisters' ridiculous speech, and therefore was in no fit state to oppose. "So Ruby, you're up first!" Steven nodded, and the other three went to go do generic background tasks until it was their turns.

Seeing as Ruby had already had all day to chat with Steven, she let him ask all his questions about the world of Remnant. She explained, to the best of her knowledge, how dust worked, what the creatures of Grimm were, and how the different kingdom's worked. Aside from the odd question every now and then, Steven mostly just listened in wide eyed amazement. Next, it was Blake's turn. She didn't say all that much, and Steven was worried because he had no idea what to say. Eventually, he started explaining what little he knew about fusion. Blake perked up at this, and became very attentive to everything Steven said. She seemed particularly interested in Garnet, being the result of the love between Ruby and Sapphire. Once their time was up, Steven saw Blake immediately grab a book called The Man With Two Souls. She was still flipping through it rapidly by the time Yang's turn was over. During Yang's turn, the two swapped stories about general shenanigans. Steven told of some of the crazy stuff Amethyst got up to, and Yang revealed the zany schemes she got up to, sometimes with a little help from Ruby or Nora. Finally, after Steven spent several minutes cuddling with Zwei, it was Weiss's turn.

"So Steven, Ruby explained quite a bit about you and your...kind," Weiss started, "but I still have a question: what exactly do you "Crystal Gems" do? What sort of monsters plague your world their would require such fierce sounding guardians?" As Steven did his best to explain, Ruby rolled her eyes at Weiss. Ever since meeting Sun near the docks awhile back, Weiss had had an unusual interest in knowing stuff about new people. She insisted it was purely out of curiosity, but the rest of Team RWBY suspected she really wanted to know how to best everyone should the opportunity rise. "So really, it's just the Home World gems and the occasional Gem monster. Other than that, Beach City is fairly quiet.," Steven finished. Weiss nodded, listening attentively. "Tell me again about all your individual fighting styles," she demanded.

"Weiss, that's enough," Blake interrupted, "it's getting late, and we've got a big day of trekking through the Emerald Forest tomorrow." Weiss looked taken aback, realizing that she'd let her enthusiasm get a little out of hand. "Of course. Forgive me, I must have gotten a little carried away," she said. Steven nodded. "Sure. That sounds like something Pearl would say," he said. Weiss nodded as she got into bed. She liked the sound of this Pearl character. Similarly, Yang thought Amethyst sounded like a lot of fun, and Blake supposed that Garnet sounded very similar to the protagonist in The Man With Two Souls. Ruby on the other hand was just happy to hang out with Steven. The lights were turned out, and everyone magically fell asleep immediately.

However, Steven was woken up a buzzing in is pocket a few hours later. He quietly got up and went outside to take the call. In the hallway, Steven saw it was Connie, and he enthusiastically answered. "Hey Connie!" He said brightly. "STEVEN! WHERE...LOOKING...BACK...GEMS..." Steven looked confused, and he quickly made for the elevator. "Hang on a minute Connie, you're breaking up. I'll try to get a better signal from the roof." Steven hit the button for the roof, and the connection steadily grew better. Steven walked onto the roof balcony under a beautiful starry night, and said "okay Connie, what's up?" Immediately, Steven nearly had his eardrums blown. "STEVEN WHERE ARE YOU?" Connie shrieked. "Actually, don't bother responding, Pearl needs to talk to you!" Oh boy, Steven thought miserably. "Hello?" he said tentatively. "STEVEN WHERE ARE YOU?" Pearl shrieked this time, nearly blowing Stevens' other eardrum. "Oww," he groaned, "if I have to get hearing aids now you're going to have to pay for them!" Conveniently forgetting that he could easily heal himself. Pearl began talking as rapidly as possible. "Steven, where are you? We came back to get some forgotten equipment, thanks to Amethyst, and when we arrived we were greeted by Lazuli. She told us Peridot knew where you were. So we asked, and she said you teleported to us shortly afterwards. IS THIS TRUE?" Steven looked extremely guilty. "Yes, it's true."

Steven held the phone far away from his ear just as Pearl shrieked again. Next, he heard the shriek die down as it was replaced by much lower and severe sounding voice. "Steven! This is Garnet! We're coming to get you to bring you back home! Can you give us some sort of landmark you're close to?" Steven looked around. "Well, I'm kind of at a big floating castle school in the sky. Does that help?" He heard Pearl scream again in the back ground. "Steven! We'll be there by morning! It's essential that-" but before Garnet to tell Steven what was essential, the phone connection went completely dead. "Garnet? Garnet?" Steven called, but there was no answer. Sighing, Steven put the phone down and smacked his head against the railing in sorrow. He knew that he'd be in big trouble for going against the gems wishes and breaking his word to Garnet. Boy, Ruby is really going to let Garnet go nuts now, Steven thought sadly. He slumped against the barrier and put his head in his hands. "Hey there champ," a voice said from the elevator. Steven looked up and saw it was Ruby in her pyjamas, looking quite tired, and therefore more adorable than usual. "Oh hey," Steven responded, trying to act casually, "I just had to take a call." "Who from?" Ruby asked as she sat beside Steven. "Oh, uh, Connie," he replied, which was technically true. "Did you guys have an argument, or do you generally sit on balconies at night looking mildly edgy?" Steven smiled. "You're starting to sound like Amethyst." Ruby smiled back. "Look, umm, honestly, the Crystal gems are coming to pick me up tomorrow, to take me back to Beach City." Ruby looked surprised. "Why? You seem like you can handle this place! Especially now that you've got Team RWBY as an entourage!" "I know. It's just, they said there's some sort of danger here. Something that could threaten my world if we don't stop it. And the Gems don't want me anywhere near it."

"Other than the Grimm we saw earlier, there is nothing bigger that's a threat. And we can squash those guys when we have a full team. Do you think maybe they're over reacting a little?" Steven thought about that. Yes, Pearl often did overreact to things, but Garnet usually kept her in line. But this time, Garnet had completely agreed with Pearl, so Steven felt especially bad. "No, they're right," Steven sighed. "It probably is too much for me out here, for whatever reason I'll just go pack my stuff from the room and wait for them up here."

Steven stood up and began heading towards the elevator. Suddenly, he felt Ruby's hand on his shoulder. "I may not know much about gems or anything," she said, "but that doesn't mean I don't recognize heart. And you my friend are full of it. You could take on anything around here." Ruby smiled a beaming smile at Steven. He returned the smile, blushing slightly. "How do you know how to give such great pep talks?" he asked. Ruby replied, "as team leader, it is my sworn duty motivate my team through the harshest moments. Inspire them to be swift as a coursing river, have the strength of a raging fire, and be mysterious as the dark side of the moon!" Ruby stood triumphantly after her gusto speech, before her and Steven fell laughing. "Actually, I just tell them to keep being Weiss, Yang and Blake, which if you think about it is kinda the same as that other list of similes." Steven laughed, "you're a great leader, Ruby," he said. Ruby broke into a grin. "And therefore, I think you're capable of spending one night in our room! Leader says so!" Steven nodded, feeling slightly taller than usual. Whether he knew it or not, Ruby was good for him. She made him feel like he could do more than before. And he appreciated having someone to look up to who didn't look down in him. Not that the Gems meant to, but they couldn't help inadvertantly pulling rank every now and then.

The duo took the elevator back down, where they once again entered the room and settled down for a nice long slumber. Steven's eyes closed silently as he began dreaming about a walrus which looked oddly like Weiss, chasing a psychic gorilla foot-CRASH! Steven, and the rest of the room for that matter, was abruptly woken up by a huge crash, followed by a booming voice. "STEVEN?" it called, before assumingly moving to the next room. "Well, the Gems are here I guess," Steven said, as nonchalantly as possible. "They sound like an angry hoard of Ursi!" Weiss said indignantly.

Just across the hall, another crash was heard, as well as a rather soothing voice. "Hello?" it said. "STEVEN!" was shouted again, presumably by Garnet. "He's, uh, not in here. I'm sorry!" The soothing voice said again. They then heard another voice, "Pyrrha, don't apologize to them! They broke our door! Know I'll have to beg Yang to help us fix it!" Everyone knew that that voice belonged to one Jaune Arc. "We'll have to apologize to Pyrrha, and the rest of Team JNPR. It sounds like the gems broke their door," Blake said, mildly exasperated. "No! You think?" Yang said as sarcastically as possible. Just as the other members of the room were nodding in agreement, the door all of a sudden exploded into splinters, with a giant gauntlet protruding through it. "STEVEN!" shouted Garnet. Still lying on the floor, Steven looked up sheepishly at Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl all standing open mouthed in the door way. "Oh, um, hey Garnet," Steven said weakly.

 **Author's note:**

 **So, I've learned that writing dialogue in a crossover story is super difficult as most of the time it comes out pretty awkwardly. However, in the next two chapters the characters will all be in a position where they can talk like they would to anyone in their own world. Thanks for sticking through this one, next chapter should be much better! Also, big thanks to my 6 beautiful followers. I had no idea even that many people would be interested in such a weird crossover. Stay fabulous!**


	5. Chapter 5: Small Talk and Big Problems

Chapter 5: Small Talk and Big Problems

It was certainly shaping up to be one of Steven's worst morning in recent memory."Steven! Let's go! It's a few hours back to the warp pad and you absolutely cannot be here when it arrives. We'll deal with you once we make it back to the temple." "Wait, when what arrives?" Steven asked. "I'm sure Pearl will explain on the way back," Amethyst said casually, "you know she never misses a chance to show off her big head...I mean brain." Amethyst broke out laughing. Pearl looked outraged, but Garnet held up a hand. "Now is really not the time Amethyst," she said. Steven, bags all packed, stepped through the massive hole where the door had been moments ago. "Wait!" Ruby called to the leaving group. "We'll come with you, as a guide." "Thanks, but we can do this ourselves," Garnet replied. Steven looked up at her. "Garnet, please let them come with us. In fact, I bet they could help on your mission!" "Well Steven," Pearl said, "it's just that we're trained warriors and this group doesn't seem to be the most...mature." She gestured at Yang, who was currently tickling Blake with one hand and pillow fighting Zwei with the other. "But they are warriors!" Steven argued. Garnet thought for a moment. Not wanting to waste any time arguing, she agreed. "Okay, they can escort us. But we leave them behind as soon as they start to slow us down." Ruby looked extremely pleased. "That's all we need. Let's move out Team RWBY!" Behind her, Weiss, Blake and Yang had all somehow gotten fully dressed with their weapons already to go. "Alright! RWBY and the Crystal Gems, move out!" Steven commanded excitedly.

About ten minutes later, the party of nine (Ruby and Sapphire) had just reached the edge of the Emerald Forest. It had been mostly quiet, and any sort of banter was confined to the predetermined groups. Even though it was a beautiful day with a bright and shining sun, there seemed to be an air of urgency and impending doom. "So Pearl, what exactly is the mission here?" Steven asked. "Well, Steven. We discovered that a long time ago, a gem shard somehow landed in this very world. It couldn't produce it's own body, but what it can do is take over the bodies of other creatures. It appears to have taken over the body of some of the local, uhh..." Pearl was at a loss for words to describe those horrible monsters they'd spent all day fighting. "They're called Grimm," Steven provided helpfully. "Grimm," Pearl continued, not losing her stride. "So, normally this would be no concern of ours. But then we looked closer, and we noticed something. The creature was steadily getting more and more massive, and we eventually discovered that it could absorb other...Grimm, in order to strengthen its own body! Now, obviously if home world ever found out that such a creature exists, they'd be quite keen to get their hands on it to use as a massive weapon. So, we have to find this creature, poof it, and bubble it before that happens. This is the sort of thing that Rose would have dreaded: a creature who uses others for its own needs. Even if they are considered to be evil, Rose always believed that every living thing has its beauty..." Pearl rambled on and on, now talking more to herself than Steven.

Behind her, Amethyst was doing her crude impression of Pearl ranting, which caused Yang to break out into a fit of giggles. "Wait, wait, wait, watch this one," Amethyst said. She used her hands and mouth to make a fart noise every time Pearl said her own name. And because she was telling Steven a story about her and Rose, this happened fairly often. "And so," Pearl continued, "Rose said to me "Pearl, *Blarp*... I need you to keep look out while I recover." Of course I agreed, because I knew Rose would only entrust this task to someone she trusted, like her Pearl *Blarp*!" Pearl finally turned around furiously. "Amethyst! For once, could you please keep your anointing behaviour to yourself?" Unfortunately. Amethyst and Yang were laughing far too hard to bother paying any attention to Pearl's scolding. "Yang, please! You are embarrassing me in front of our distinguished guests!" Weiss scowled as she looked at the pair, still laughing. "Oh, umm, distinguished you say?" Pearl said in that voice used when someone's flattered and they pretend not to be. Weiss nodded. "But of course! It's obvious by the way you hold yourself that you, at least, are a gem of, let's see... social grace?" "Oh stop," Pearl said in a dismissive but not really sort of way, waving her hand nonchalantly. She dropped back so that she was right beside Weiss, and the two began discussing the effectiveness of combat skirts.

At the very front of the pack, Blake had ended up walking beside Garnet. "We should be there in an hour," Blake said. "Yes we will," Garnet replied, and the two continued on in silence. Then out of nowhere, a pack of Beowolves suddenly sprang up in front of the group. "Uh oh," Ruby said. "Gems, move!" Garnet shouted. She immediately ran up to the nearest Beowolf and clocked it right on the noggin. Amethyst followed up by spin dashing into the weakened wolf in such a Sonic like manner that the Beowolf exploded from pure 90s nostalgia. Pearl meanwhile weaved gracefully through the pack, hacking and slashing as she went along. Steven saw a Beowolf lunge at her from behind, so he quickly dove in front of it with his shield. Its head with such force that his skull fractured and he ceased to live. Not wanting to look like pacifists, Ruby commanded her team to spring into action. As she whipped out Crescent Rose, she remembered how she thought her team would need Pogo sticks to accurately follow that command. Smiling, she lined up the remaining Beowolves in her scope and open fired. One by one they fell, a blast straight through the head.

Unfortunately, all the commotion had caught the attention of a four Ursi. "Team RWBY, Ursi!" Ruby shouted. Her teammates quickly shifted their attention from the almost defeated Beowolf hoard to the oncoming bear like giants. Yang lead the charge, plowing into the first Ursa and repeatedly giving it the old one two combo. The bear was helpless against the constant barrage of gauntlet and dust blast, and soon Yang was standing victorious on its corpse. Meanwhile, Blake had two Ursi lunge at her at the same time. However, she'd tricked them with a semblance clone and they ploughed into one another. While they were dazed, Blake finished them off with a few quick strikes from Gambol Shroud. Finally, there was only one Ursa left, and Weiss was facing it off, waiting for it to charge. It did, and Weiss smiled as she selected her dust type on Mytenaster. Just as the oncoming Grimm swiped at her, Weiss quickly side stepped and slashed the monster's back before letting loose a blast of fire dust. The monster, however, remained standing, if a little banged up. "Urgh, fine," Weiss said, mildly annoyed. Surrounding the creature with glyphs, Weiss speedily lunged from one to the other, hacking at the Ursa with each pass. She went in for one final strike. With everything she could must, Weisss brought her rapier down so hard she cut the Ursa completely in half. Panting slightly, her and the rest of team RWBY smiled as they admired their handy work before turning back to look at the Gems.

The Gems were just standing their, mouths completely agape at the level of combat these four girls had displayed. Even Steven, who'd been hearing of their heroic exploits all of yesterday, stood in amazement. "Well, uh, should we keep moving?" Ruby asked innocently. Her team nodded, and they resumed their march to the warp pad. The Crystal Gems, still in a slight daze, ran to catch up with them. The group continued in silence for a few minutes. "See, I told you they're good fighters," Steven said, partly to the Gems and partly to himself. "Ah, shucks," Yang said, pretending to blush, "thanks, little man. It was nothing." "No. Your technique with your Gauntlets is quite extraordinary. Especially for someone your age," Garnet said. She walked a little faster to catch up with Yang, and the two began discussing various combos and strategy when using gauntlets. Pearl, meanwhile, had once again started walking beside Weiss, trying to control her enthusiasm for her fighting style. "It's just so, elegant. It's more like your dancing than fighting," she exclaimed, gushing slightly. Weiss, pleased that someone finally appreciated her delicate fighting style, was more than happy to drone on and on about it.

The group continued to make this kind of conversation right up until they finally made it to the clearing. "Well, here we are. Come on Steven, we don't have much time left," Pearl said, almost begrudgingly. "Well, we'll be back momentarily," Garnet said, "and Steven, you can come back as soon as we've poofed the monster. Steven smiled as the Gems stepped onto the warp pad. "Wait! You forgot your duffle!" Yang called, as she'd been carrying it for him. "Oh right!" Steven said. He quickly stepped off the warp pad and ran to grab his bag.

All of a sudden, a deafening shriek was heard. Over head, a giant shadow appeared and covered the clearing. "STEVEN! LOOK OUT!" Pearl screamed. Flying over top of them was the Crystal Grimm they'd been waiting for. It was huge, with wings the size of a bridge. It's body looked similar to that of a Beowolf, and it appeared to have two heads as well as a giant stinger on its backside. Before the Gems could react, the monster let loose a monster ball of fire right at the warp pad. "Guys!" Steven cried. He ran to protect them with his shield. But before he could, the ball blasted the ruin, completely covering the warp pad in flames. Without hesitation, Steven activated his bubble and he rolled into the flames. When he reached what remained of the warp pad, he saw that all four Gems had reverted back to their gemstones. Steven reached his hand and grabbed them. However, he was badly burned in the process and almost lost control of his bubble. He quickly rolled out and collapsed on the ground, gems in hand. "Quick!" shouted Weiss, "we've got to move!" "This way!" Yang shouted back. The small party ran as fast they could while keeping out of sight of the circling Goliath. They eventually made it to the cave that had once housed a certain death-stalker. But before they could get inside, the Crystal Grimm spotted them. It immediately flew towards them with the speed of an arrow. "Inside, quick!" Steven shouted. The group dove inside, just as the monster reached them. But because it was unable to change direction quick enough, it slammed into the top of the cliff. This brought several tonnes of boulder crashing down, completely blocking the cave entrance.

Too tired to care at the moment, Weiss, Steven, Yang, Blake and Ruby all fell down around a dim source of light from a hole in the cave, completely exhausted.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm not going to lie, I'm starting to feel a little burnt out. That's not to say that I've run out of ideas, because I know exactly where this story is going. However, I don't think I'll be able to keep uploading a new chapter everyday. So as of this, I'm going to start releasing the next part every other day. As always, thank you to all my beautiful followers for supporting this strange crossover. Stay fabulous!**


	6. Chapter 6: Rock On

Chapter 6: Rock On

Luckily Steven, thanks to his flashlight, found some old pieces of wood tucked into a back corner of the cave. He lifted them up, with a bit of struggle, and moved them to where the remainder of the group had huddled. Weiss then loaded fire dust on her rapier again, and set the wood alight so that they had a decent sized fire. Now that they could see, everyone surveyed the cave. It was about as long as Steven's house, but it had a thin entrance and a larger circular chamber in the back where the party was sitting now. Everyone checked each other to see if anyone was badly hurt. Luckily, everyone had enough aura to repair all their wounds, so Ruby, Blake, Yang and especially Weiss politely declined Steven's offer to heal them with his healing saliva. Steven himself, however, had suffered a nasty burn on his hands from picking up the Gem's gemstones in the fire. He turned around so Team RWBY wouldn't have to watch him lick his hands.

Once everyone was okay, Weiss immediately got up and began examining the cave for a way out. She muttered feverishly to herself as she darted around the area, pausing every now and then to touch the rock in certain places. Finally, once she was sure that there were no plausible means of escape from the chamber, she hurriedly dashed into the entrance tunnel and examined the build up in front of the cave entrance. While she was out of sight, Steven reached in his back pack and pulled out the gem stones. He kept them in his lap while he reached into his duffle bag for his pillow. Pulling it out, he laid it beside the fire and set the four gemstones softly upon it. Steven smiled just as Weiss came barrelling back into view of the group.

"Well, that's it! We are officially trapped and going to die here!" She shrieked before collapsing in sobs. Ruby moved beside her and wrapped her arms around the heiress. "It's okay Weiss, we'll get through this together," Ruby said comfortingly. "Shut up, don't touch me!" Weiss growled as she pulled Ruby in closer. While they hugged it out, the other three turned to face one another, feeling awkward. "Should we do that to? For moral support?" Blake asked Yang out of nowhere. Yang laughed. "And leave Steven to grieve by himself? Who do you think I am? Weiss?" "I heard that!" Weiss said, her voice slightly muffled from Ruby's hood. "Of course, how silly of me," Blake said quietly, secretly disappointed. Wanting the topic to change quickly, she added, "so, what's going on with the Gems?" Steven looked at them. "Well, when they get hurt badly, they get rid of their physical body and go into their gemstones. From their they regenerate until they eventually pop back out, or something like that.," he said. Despite seeing it multiple times from both Amethyst and Pearl, Steven was still a little unclear on the exact details of regeneration. "So...how long does that take?" Yang asked. "It varies," Steven said. "With Pearl it took several weeks before she came out. I have no idea how long it takes Ruby and Sapphire, and as for Amethyst-" Steven was cut off by a bright glow emitting from one of the gemstones. Even Weiss and Ruby broke off their hug to see what was going on. There was a blinding flash of light, and then suddenly a figured appeared.

The figure however seemed to be struggling. The light finally died down, and their stood Amethyst, with a chicken head replacing her own. "Oh my god I messed up my regeneration! Ahhh!" She screamed in terror. Everyone else started screaming and panicking, before Amethyst changed her head back to it's usual shape. "Ha! I'm just messing with you guys, gotcha!" The gem cried as she fell on the ground laughing. Yang, after recovering from her initial shock, joined Amethyst in her raucous laughter. Blake seemed mildly annoyed by the outburst, Ruby just seemed relieved that Amethyst was okay, and Steven, being used to Amethyst's antics, laughed good-naturedly. Weiss on the other hand, was not impressed.

"What? You think that was funny? I almost had a heart attack!" Weiss raged at the purple gem, who'd finally pulled herself together. Amethyst waved Weiss down. "Psssht, lighten up Snow Angel." "And don't call me Snow Angel," Weiss shouted back. "Your word is my command, Ice Queen," Amethyst said suavely, sinking into a deep bow which cracked up everyone else in the cave. Weiss huffed and turned away from the laughter. "Anyway, once the Garnet and Pearl come back we can just fuse and break this cliff to bits!" This seemed to calm everyone down, and they all settled back down to simply relax and wait for that to happen. Except for Weiss, who was still being a little salty.

Amethyst turned and looked at the remaining three gems nestled on the pillow. "Man, usually Ruby regenerates faster than I do," she said in mild surprise. She turned and looked at Steven. "You know, cause she's so small. And between you and me, not very bright." Steven nodded, remembering the Rubies he'd played baseball with a while ago. "Then what about Sapphire? Shouldn't she be okay soon?" Amethyst shook her head, "she likes to take her time, kinda like Pearl." Right as she said this, a red glow appeared. "Speak of the devil," Amethyst said. Out of the red jewel sprung forth a small red being with unnaturally cubic hair. "Hey Ruby," Steven greeted her. "Hello Steven," she responded. She turned and examined Sapphire's gemstone. "She's still not back, huh?" she asked the other two gems, who both shook their heads. Sighing, Ruby sat prominently beside her partner's gem, as if gardening it.

Blake moved from her spot beside Yang to be closer to the Crystal Gems. "So, can you two fuse to get us out of here?" She asked, almost as if she wasn't interested. Steven however, knew that Blake was fascinated by the concept of fusion, was probably bursting inside to see it in action. "Oh, well, ummm...I don't know if I can," Ruby said, almost nervously. "Why?" Steven asked, "you've fused with her before right?" He remembered the towering figure of Sugilite. "That's different, that was Garnet. And besides the only gem I've ever fused with by myself who wasn't another Ruby is Sapphire," Ruby said, almost sounding embarrassed. "Well, would you at least be willing to try?" Steven asked. Ruby looked unsure, but nodded after seeing Steven's puppy dog eyes.

"Let's get some music going to help," Amethyst suggested. "Ooh! I've got just the thing!" Steven said with excitement. He stood up and went over to his cheeseburger back pack, which had ended up beside Ruby and Yang, who'd started up their own conversation. "Hey, whatcha doin'?" Yang said as Steven dug around in his bag. "Amethyst and Ruby are going to try fusing, and they want some music to help them," Steven explained. "Oooh, that sounds exciting! Can we watch?" Ruby asked. Steven thought about it, and replied, "actually, Ruby seems pretty nervous. So, the less people watching her the better, I think." Ruby looked understanding, Yang looked a little disappointed. Steven dug out his ukulele, and headed back over to Amethyst, Ruby and Blake. "Alright, you two ready?" Steven asked. Amethyst nodded enthusiastically. Ruby looked unsure, but nodded all the same. "Wait!" Yang called from across the cave. They turned to look at her. "Just hope your plan really...comes together!" Yang said, unable to keep a straight face. Both Steven and Amethyst laughed their heads off. Both Blake and Ruby looked at Amethyst, Steven and Yang like they were idiots. Regaining their composure, Steven and Amethyst once again prepared themselves.

"Alright Steven, hit it!" Amethyst said. Steven nodded and began strumming. "All I wanna do, is see you turn into, a giant woman. A giant woman! All I wanna be, is someone who gets to see, a giant woman. A giant woman! All I wanna do, is help you turn into, a giant woman. A giant woman!" Steven sang as Ruby and Amethyst danced. They seemed to be doing okay, if a little clumsy here and there. Then, the moment came when they began fusing. Blake's eyes widened at the synchronization of two individual souls as one.

Without warning, the fusion suddenly flashed and the two gems fell hard to the ground. Amethyst sat up, rubbing her head. "I am so sorry!" Ruby said, almost in tears, "I just can't do it without Sapphire. It just feels so wrong!" Ruby turned away from the group, completely embarrassed. Amethyst got up and put her hand on the small gem's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it!" She said reassuringly. Ruby smiled gratefully. Weiss, who'd been lurking in a corner observing the whole event, came out to do what else but complain. "So, if you two are unable to fuse, how long will it take until we're in the presence of two gems who can fuse?" She asked pointedly at Amethyst. "Umm," about a five hours for Sapphire, and maybe three weeks for Pearl," she said casually. "Well, at least Sugilite will have the best chance of smashing the rock," Steven said with his ever present optimism. Everyone gathered back around the fire, and began thinking of ways to pass the next few hours.

"So Steven, do you know any other songs?" Ruby asked, pointing at his ukulele still in his hand. Steven nodded. "Hey, why don't you play us something?" Yang said eagerly. Ruby nodded enthusiastically, Blake smiled, and even Weiss seemed pretty interested in hearing more of Steven's music. "Alright," Steven said, and began his strumming and singing. "If you're evil and you're on the rise, you can count on the four of us taking you down. Cause we're good and evil never beats us, we'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas." Steven turned to Ruby and Amethyst, who both nodded and joined in. "We, are the Crystal Gems, we always save the day. And if you think we can't, we'll always find away. That's why the people of this world believe in.." "Garnet," Ruby sang. "Amethyst," Amethyst sang. "And Pearl," Amethyst, who'd changed shape so that she looked exactly like Pearl, sand in an intentionally horrible impression of Pearl's voice. Every one laughed, and then Steven finally added, "and Steven!"

"Wow! It's so cool that you guys have a theme song!" Ruby said. She turned to her team, looking deep in thought. "Hey, why don't we have a theme song?" she asked. Yang replied, "I feel like we do, but I'm pretty sure it changes, like, every year." Ruby shook her head. "No, you're thinking of the Remnant national anthem. That changes at the start of each season. I meant a theme song for Team RWBY." Blake interrupted. "We do, but everyone forgot about it," she said. Steven's attention was instantly drawn. "You guys have a theme song? Can I hear it? Please?" he asked, almost begging. "Of course!" Ruby said eagerly. She, Blake and Yang turned expectantly to Weiss, who looked confused. "Why are you all staring at me?" she asked. "Well, you're easily the best singer out of all of us, so you should perform it," Blake said. Weiss, who had always loved singing, agreed without any further prompting. "Alright, here we go," she said, a little nervous.

"Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest. White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test. Black the beast descends from shadows. Yellow beauty burns gold." She closed her eyes and smiled. The cave burst into applause from everyone. Weiss's smile grew and she gave a short curtsy. The echoing of the applause seemed to be growing louder and louder. Weiss opened her eyes and saw everyone looking around in curiosity at the growing sound.

Suddenly, there was a big flash of light and a large pink circle appeared. From the circle the group heard a mighty roar. Steven suddenly broke into a wide smile, for out of the portal jumped a rather large, rather pink, lion. "Lion! You've come to save us!" Steven shouted, hugging his clearly exhausted friend. Everyone seemed to speechless to do anything but stare at Lion. "We'd better hurry," Steven pressed, "I think it's a strain on him to keep this portal!" The group nodded obediently, quickly gathered up their stuff, and were lead by Amethyst through the portal. "Right before I left," Steven said, "that portal you showed me. Were you telling me that you would be able to help me?" Lion stared, and then unmistakably gave a nod. Steven pulled Lion into an even bigger hug before helping him to his feet, and the two walked side by side back to Beach City.

 **Authors note:**

 **I hope you found the songs to be enjoyable and not tedious. I have several thank yous to make. First, to my first ten followers on my first story. You guys are great! Second, specifically to AnimeVulpaGirl, Red Diz, Daxen123, and Gamelover41592, who had really nice things to say about the story so far. Remember I am always open to suggestions and constructive criticism. It makes me a better writer, which means I can give you a better story. It's win/win. Anyway, looking forward to seeing you all in Beach City for the next part of the story. As always, stay fabulous!**


	7. Chapter 7: The Bits and Pieces

Chapter 7: The Bits and Pieces

Even though they'd been walking in the portal, the group landed in a face down pile in the middle of the temple's living room. There was a collective "oomph," and then they stood up. Well, everyone except Steven, who'd had the misfortune of having a very tired Lion land right on top of his head. Right before he passed out from asphyxiation, Steven was suddenly able to breathe again. Looking up, he saw Lion gently sleeping in Yang's arms. "Aww, he's so cute when he's not suffocating me," Steven said, quite relieved. "So, is this your house? Or are we breaking and entering?" Blake asked, looking around. "Nope, this is our home," Steven said, standing up. Behind him, Ruby was setting Sapphire's gemstone down on the table. "Come back to me soon," she whispered. Amethyst casually tossed Pearl's gemstone on the couch next to it. "Careful! You could have damaged them!" Ruby said, getting angry. "Chill out, Eternal Flame," Amethyst said casually. She turned to Steven. "Hey Steven, why don't you like, show these guys Beach City while we wait for Sapphire to show up?" "What about Pearl?" Weiss asked. "Yeah, she's still not coming around for a few days," Amethyst replied. "Of course, I must have forgot," Weiss stammered, trying to save face, "it must be because I'm famished." "Oh, if you're hungry I know the perfect place!" Steven said.

He led Team RWBY onto the balcony and down the steps. They walked around the side of the temple and the huntresses got their first view of the town. "Welcome to Beach City!" Steven said proudly. The sun was still slightly on the morning side of noon, and its light gave the town a glow of beauty. "This place is quite beautiful," Weiss swooned. Everyone turned and looked at her in surprise. "What?" she asked. "Well, usually you reserve that voice for, like, schedules and stuff," Yang explained. "I can appreciate the beauty of a scenic view!" she snapped at Yang. "It's almost like it was painted by several very talented individuals..." "Come on," Steven said, interrupting Weiss's nirvana. "The Big Donut is right down there." They set off to the building with the, surprise, big donut on top of it. "I can't wait for you to meet my best friend, Lars," Steven said to Ruby. "Um, how many best friends do you have?" she asked him Steven thought for a moment. "About eleven," he said casually.

Steven pushed the store door open . "Hey Lars and Sadie!" he called to the two friendsbutmaybemorethanthatifyoushipthesetwowhichyoushouldcausetheymadeoutinanepisodealready.

Both looked surprised at Steven's group, who'd promptly followed the young Crystal Gem into the Big Donut. "Oh, hey Steven," Sadie said, waving, "who're your new friends?" "This is Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang," he replied. He turned to Team RWBY. "This is Sadie and Lars," he told them. "Salutations!" Ruby said, doing an impression of Penny. "Hello," Weiss said in a friendly tone. Blake smiled and nodded at the two. "Sup?" Yang said jovially. "Well it's nice to meet you all," Sadie smiled. She turned to Lars, expecting him to say something rude or sarcastic. However, Lars just stood there, mouth agape, staring at one of the huntresses in utter disbelief. (Three guesses which) Yang, who'd always had a good sense off when guys were staring at her, chose to have some fun with Lars. "Oh, what are these?" she asked, turning so her hair swayed in an elegant arc before landing softly over her face in dreamy slow motion. "Sorry, I'm on my break," Lars said hurriedly as he ran into the back. Meanwhile, Steven was explaining to Yang, Weiss and Blake about Lion Lickers, and how they were terrible compared to Cookie Cat. Ruby walked up to the counter. "So, what's with him?" she asked. "Oh Lars? He gets nervous around girls. And really nervous around pretty girls," Sadie said, looking a little irritated. "So, why wasn't he nervous around you?" Ruby asked. "Aw, you're so sweet," Sadie said, blushing. "Here, have a donut on the house," she said as she slid a double chocolate donut across the table for Ruby. "Ooh, thank you!" Ruby said. She took the donut and took a bite out of it. Her eyes sparkled from the deliciousness.

"Now available at Gurgens off Route 109," Steven finished. "Hey Ruby, what do you think of-" Yang started, but stopped when she saw the donut in her hand. "Uh oh," Blake said. "What's the matter?" Steven asked. "Umm, just get us a few donuts and we'll meet you outside," Yang said hurriedly, before tackling Ruby, who had just finished the rest of the donut in one bite and began having a massive sugar rush. Yang wrestled her sister out the door, as Ruby began thrashing and screaming gibberish about a bumblebee landing on a white rose, which created the ultimate flower power to rule the universe.

"Well, they seem nice," Sadie said once Team RWBY was all outside. "Yeah, they're pretty great," Steven said walking up to the counter. Just then, the door to the back opened and Lars came out, looking like he'd had a heart attack. "Is she gone already?" He asked, panicking. "They all went outside," Steven told him. "But...but...I finally thought of the perfect pick up line!" He said, angry that he'd missed his chance. "Well, they're all right there. Why don't you go say it now?" Sadie said, in a mildly aggressive tone. "No, no, no! It was entirely based on being inside!" Lars said, putting his head on the counter and sobbing. "That seems like a strange thing to base a pick up line on, even for you Lars," Sadie said, secretly smiling that his plan had failed. "Just...make sure you bring her back soon, Steven," Lars said. "I'll bring them all back," Steven replied. "Anyway, four donuts please!"

The group walked along the beach as they nibbled on their donuts. "Mmm, these are really good!" said Yang. "Hey, umm...Weiss?" Ruby said tentatively. "I am not letting you have any of my donut, Ruby!" Weiss said sternly. "And don't even bother-" but right then Ruby gave her the puppy dog look. Weiss could feel her resolve disappearing quickly. "Quick! Someone eat this before I succumb!" she cried out. "On it!" Yang said as she took the half eaten jelly filled donut (that looked uncannily like a ball of rice) and shoved it in her mouth. Yang smiled, Weiss looked relieved, and Ruby looked extremely disappointed. "Well, where to now?" Yang asked Steven. He thought for moment, then snapped his fingers. "I've got an idea!" he said.

The crew rolled up to the Funland Arcade about twenty minutes later. "Here it is! The greatest arcade in the world!" Steven said, his arms spread apart to capture the majesty of the arcade. "This looks awesome!" Ruby cried. "Where do we start?" "Well, lets see," Steven pondered the optimal game for each of his new friends. "Yang, I think you'd like this one," Steven said, leading her to the Punch Buddy. Yang nodded enthusiastically as she prepared to deliver a solid flogging. "Ruby, give this one a try," Steven led her to Teens of Rage, where Ruby immediately let loose some rage, all while looking adorable. "Weiss, maybe this one?" Steven pointed at an older DDR machine. "There is no way that I would ever play such as-" Weiss began, but immediately stopped when she read through the set list. Steven left just as Weiss started dancing to a song that went "Baby, it's time to make up your miiii-iiind..." "Blake, I really have no idea what you'd want to play. Blake?" Steven looked around, but he couldn't seem to find the quiet member of Team RWBY anywhere. Then he noticed her, already deeply absorbed by a game. "Hey Blake! What game are you playing?" Steven asked as he approached her. Blake was far to into her game and didn't even hear him approach. Steven looked up and saw that she'd found a cabinet version of Kirby's Epic Yarn. Steven himself decided he wanted to play some Skee Ball. On his way to the game, he was stopped by Mr. Smiley. "These friends of yours aren't going to break my cabinets like last time, are they?" he asked Steven, in a voice that was halfway between threatening and weary. "Oh no," Steven replied happily, and he proceeded to the Ski Ball table.

About an hour later, the group met up at the prize counter. Steven and Ruby had both won a decent number of tickets. Yang had demolished Punch Buddy and had double that of Ruby. Weiss had similar number to Yang, having killed the dance floor and its flashing arrows. But Blake, who seemed to have found her calling, arrived with a pile so large she could barely hold all the tickets without losing her balance. "I, um, really liked that game," Blake said when she was met with a wall of shocked faces. Deciding to pool all their tickets together, the grand total was 17 539 tickets, more than enough to get anything on the wall. The group went into such deep thought deciding that they needed a montage to make it interesting to read about. Once the montage was over, the group walked out of the arcade with an electric scooter for Ruby. "Now Yang and I can go for rides together on our hogs," she said. They also got a bandana with a skull on it for Yang, a beautiful plastic ring for Weiss, and all Blake wanted was a rather large box that the scooter had come in. "Well, I worked up quite the appetite," Yang said, "how about some lunch?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Then lead the way, Steven, Ruby said. "I know just the place," he said.

A while later Steven had lead his friends to Beach Citywalk Fries. Walking up to the counter, Steven was greeted by a boy a little older than Steven. "Hi Steven," he said. "Hey Peedee. 5 orders of the Bits, please," Steven replied. "Sure thing Steven," Peedee said, and he went off to get them. "Peedee! I need you to work five extra shifts this afternoon!" A voice from within the store yelled. "But Dad, I had plans tonight!" Peedee yelled back. "No questions! You need practice running the family business!" The voice yelled back. Peedee grumbled as he came back to the window with the Bits. "Here you guys go," Peedee said bitterly. "What was, all that about?" Weiss asked Peedee. He looked up in surprise. "Oh, well, my Dad wants me to work more even though I have plans," he explained. "Oh, that sounds terrible," Weiss said in earnest. "And, I don't even want to work for the stupid family business. Sometimes I just want to leave so I can do my own thing, you know?" Weiss seemed moved by the young boys predicament. "Oh have we got a lot to talk about," she said.

The rest of the group decided to meet up with Weiss in about fifteen minutes or so. "This day had been the best!" Ruby said excitedly, "what else have we not done yet?" Steven thought. He looked around town, wondering what the huntresses would want to see next. He looked and he looked, until his eyes spied something at the top of a large hill. "Let's go get Weiss," Steven said. They returned to the fry shop, where Peedee and Weiss were still in deep conversation. "And then, he actually makes me earn my freedom by having me defeat a giant knight!" Weiss was venting. "Well, at least the scar looks pretty cool," Peedee said. "Oh, is it time to already?" Weiss asked, disappointed. "Yup, Steven found are next destination," Ruby said. "Well, call me anytime if you want to talk more," Peedee called as Weiss waved good bye. "He's a little young for you, isn't he?" Yang asked Weiss trying to rile her up. "For your information, he's much more mature than his age would suggest. AND HE'S ONLY A FRIEND!" Weiss retorted. "I don't know," Ruby said, joining in, "a hot older girl. I wonder if he'll be able to resist you." Ruby, Yang and Steven all fell apart laughing. "Blake, please back me up on this," Weiss said pleadingly to Blake. Blake, feeling sympathetic, nodded. She snuck up behind Ruby and Yang, then blasted them with a cartridge of ice dust.

With their heads completely encased in ice, Ruby and Yang quickly apologized to Weiss using very frantic hand motions. Satisfied, the Ice Queen loaded up her rapier and used some fire dust to slowly melt away the ice. "So Steven, where are we going exactly," she asked, still keeping her eye on Ruby and Yang. Steven smiled. "You'll see soon enough," he said as he spied the barn they were headed for atop the hill.


	8. Chapter 8: Angry Doritos and Pizza

Chapter 8: Angry Doritos and Pizza

Even though all four huntresses were in peak physical condition, they were all out of breath by the time they reached the hill's plateau. This was probably because Steven had been so excited for them to meet Lapis and Peridot that he'd bound up the hill so fast the huntresses struggled to keep up. Even Ruby, who was always so full of energy and quite fast, joined her comrades in collapsing when they'd finally conquered the summit. "Alright, we're here!" Steven exclaimed joyously as he walked towards the barn. He noticed that Ruby and co. wasn't behind him. Turning, Steven was surprised to see the others on their backs panting like Lion. "Hey, are you guys alright?" he called to them. "We will be once the world stops spinning!" Yang called back. "Sounds good! Meet us in the barn when that happens!" Steven replied cheerfully. He walked up to the barn. Steven couldn't hear any yelling, which was a good sign that Lapis and Peridot weren't arguing. Pulling open the door, Steven walked into the barn.

"Oh, Steven. What're you doing here?" Lapis Lazuli asked, looking surprised. "Hey Lapis, I just came over to say hey and to introduce you to my new friends," Steven informed her. "Oh, um, that sounds...nice," Lapis said, forcing a smile. Steven looked around in confusion. "Where's Peridot?" he asked. Lapis smiled a genuine smile. "Oh, I took care of her. She won't be back for a while." Steven looked worried. "Umm, Lapis? What did you do with Peridot?" he asked nervously. "I told her she needed to start earning her keep around here, so I got her a job in Jersey!" Steven stared in utter disbelief as the blue gem smiled as the thought of her plan. "Anyway, you said you had some friends outside?" Lapis asked, uncharacteristically cheerfully. "...oh yeah!" Steven said, "they're right outside."

Steven and Lapis walked side by side out into the field, where they found that all but Blake had found the energy to stand up. "Hey guys! This is Lapis," Steven informed them. Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss all waved and said hello. Now normally, meeting new people would be something Lapis would despise quite severely. However since Peridot had been gone for the last 5 hours, she'd been unnaturally happy. "It's nice to meet you all," she said, offering them a smile. Right before Steven could introduce the Team one by one, he was interrupted by a large something crashing into field a couple of meters away from them. Once the dust died down, it was revealed that a large sphere was responsible for the interruption

Out of the sphere climbed another, very angry, geometric shape: a triangle. "Oh, hey Peridot!" Steven waved to her. Seeing her furiously grumbling to herself, Steven added, "what's the matter?" "They think that they know how to get things done. They have a degree from a magical electric land, so of course they know better than the multi thousand year old technician!" Peridot had started pacing, occasionally tripping on her own feet and getting even angrier. "What are you doing back here so soon?" Lapis asked, her good mood disappearing instantly. "I was fired!" Peridot barked at her before resuming her pacing. "What for?" Lapis persisted, frustrated that the small green gem would be around just as much as before. "Well, apparently it's undesirable for an individual to point out every flaw in a work environment, then call their boss a fat headed clod when he doesn't listen." Steven groaned, "you didn't." Suddenly, Peridot smiled maniacally. "So, right after I was fired, I found a pile of scrap metal just lying around, and I got an idea." "What did you do?" Steven asked worried. "Let's just say that they should probably rename Jersey something along the lines of Giant Fire-Burnt Hole In The Ground City!" Steven looked shocked, Lapis looked defeated, and Team RWBY looked completely lost.

Ruby, once she recovered from her initial shock, ran over to Peridot and gave her a big hug. "What in the world?" Peridot cried, outraged. "You are sooooo cute!" Ruby said, squeezing the gem tighter. "So this is how I die: suffocated by an unknown being who thinks I'm cute," Peridot gasped as she started to pass out. "Oh, sorry," Ruby said as she released Peridot. Gasping for breath, Peridot sat up. "Who do you think you are, coming to someone else's home, strangling them, and calling them CUTE? I should vaporize you right now!" With that the green/yellow gem sprang on top of Ruby and began lightly slapping her, which to Ruby tickled more than anything. "So yeah, that's Peridot," Steven said as Ruby laughed uncontrollably at Peridot's slaps and threats, all of which sounded quite gruesome.

Lapis sighed and flew up to the water tower. "What's with her?" Blake asked Steven, gesturing to the blue gem sitting legs and arms crossed atop the water tower. "Oh, she's just like that. She just needs her space," Steven told her as he went to go haul Peridot off of Ruby before she laughed herself to death. Blake looked thoughtfully at Lapis, who had now sprawled onto her back in an attempt to relax. Blake smiled, and turned back to the rest of the group. Steven had calmed Peridot down, Ruby was gasping for breath, Yang was still laughing at Ruby's predicament, and Weiss seemed to be thinking of a plan that involved Ruby and lots of tickling. "So, what should we all do?" Steven asked. They thought for a few minutes, but nothing funny, creative or worth reading about came into any of their minds. Steven began looking a bit nervous. "Oh, I didn't want you guys meeting to be so awkward," he said. "It's okay Steven," Peridot said. "These beings appear to be primitive to the point of barely being able to comprehend the delicate balance required in order to achieve camaraderie and develop bonds with different beings, unlike the master of friendship: me!" Weiss and Blake looked insulted, Ruby and Yang looked utterly lost, but copied what Blake and Weiss were doing so as to look like they knew what had just been said. "Excuse me, could a "primitive being" like myself DO THIS?" Weiss snapped. She pulled out her rapier and shot a blast of ice dust at a smug looking Peridot.

When the smoke lifted, it was revealed that Peridot's head was completely surrounded by a block of ice, causing her to become unable to lift her head off of the ground. Her mouth was moving furiously, but no sound came our. Steven was quite sure that most of the words were simply "clod." The rest of Team RWBY fell apart laughing at the struggling gem. Steven, feeling bad for his friend, walked over to her. She'd given up trying to stand and was simply flailing on the ground like she was trying to use the Splash attack. Of course, nothing happened. Steven pulled out his shield, and slammed the edge against the ice. It cracked, and Peridot lay gasping for breath on the ground. "You okay?" Steven asked, knowing full well that Peridot was just was just pretending to suffocate to scare the others. She couldn't suffocate if she tried. "Steven, who are these people and why have you brought them here to destroy me?" Peridot asked in an almost exhausted tone. "Peridot, you were being rude to them. They're my friends, and I want them to feel welcome in Beach City. And seeing as you're apart of it-" Peridot cut Steven off on his end-of-episode moral speech and she walked over to the huntresses. "I...apologize for my remarks," Peridot said quietly. "Aww, that's alight," Yang replied, "I'd think we were primitive too if I saw Weiss for the first time too!" Ruby and Weiss both shot daggers at Yang, however Blake coughed to conceal a smile.

"Look, maybe you guys just need a more casual setting to hang out in," Steven said. Suddenly, he had an idea so amazing, yet so cliched, that his pupils turned to stars. RWBY had been too polite to ask if that was some kind of a birth defect when they first saw it, but now they were seriously considering asking Peridot about it. "You and Lapis should come over tonight for a SLUMBER PARTY!" Steven exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement. "Slumber party?" Peridot asked, "what's that?" "Oh, it's where a bunch of people stay up super late and play games and eat snacks and bond with each other! If you need help, I know first hand that Garnet is a master of slumber parties!" Steven said, recalling how she'd been able to fall flat on her face and fall asleep instantly. "Ooooh, this is going to be so much fun!" Ruby said. "It does sound fun," Weiss admitted, to which everyone looked shocked. "I'm in!" Yang said boisterously. Blake nodded and gave the thumbs up.

They agreed that Peridot would use the warp pad near the barn to arrive at 7:00. "There's just one more thing we need," Steven said, looking up at the water tower. He climbed up and sat beside a very peaceful Lapis Lazuli. "Hey Lapis, we're having a slumber party tonight. You should come." Lapis shook her head. "Steven, I really just need some time to myself right now. It's bad enough with Peridot still here," Lapis said sadly. Steven thought for a moment, then got an idea. "How about this. You stay for fifteen minutes, and if you aren't enjoying yourself you can leave and I promise we'll keep Peridot there until at least noon tomorrow." Lapis snapped her eyes wide open at this. "Really?" She asked. Steven nodded, "but you have to try to have fun." Lapis nodded. "Alright, we'll see you at 7:00." Steven called as he climbed back down the water tower.

The group opted not to warp back to the temple after saying their good byes, but instead decided to walk back though town to pick up some dinner along the way. Everyone appreciated that it was much better going down the hill than up it. Eventually, they came to a store called Fish Stew Pizza. "You guys like pizza?" Steven asked. Everyone nodded, their mouths drooling at the intoxicating smell of pizza. They walked in. "Oh, hey Steven," they were greeted by Jenny, "did you replace us with a new group of friends? Man, Buck and SC's hearts will be broken." "Nah, you guys are still my best peeps," Steven said, putting on air of fake over the top coolness. Jenny laughed. "Anyway, this is Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss. They're...uhhh," Steven had never quite figured out how to explain Team RWBY's presence to others. "Foreign exchange students!" Weiss offered. "Uh, yeah! Foreign exchange student!" Steven said. "Oh cool! Where are you all from?" Weiss seemed to lose her confidence with the charade. "Well, uhh... you see..." "They're from a crazy place where big black monsters roam free filling the world with dread," Steven said ominously. Jenny laughed. "Oh Steven, you are so funny." She turned back to Team RWBY. "Well, hopefully your schools are good where you're from, cause here their so bad I don't even bother showing half the time. Just then, Kofi entered the dining area. "Jenny! You skip school?" he asked furiously. "What, Dad no, I just meant-" Jenny's scrambling was interrupted by another voice from behind the counter. "She's lying! She only shows up to school on the days she has that cute boy in one of her classes!" Kiki chirped. "You're not helping! And that's what YOU do, even if I'M supposed to be the evil twin! How hard is that?" Jenny retorted. The three began arguing with each other while Steven and RWBY stood their awkwardly and just watched.

Just then, a small figure holding three large, flat boxes walked through the commotion to Steven. "Here are your pizzas Steven," Nanefua said with a smile. "Oh, thanks," Steven said, grateful that they could leave. Outside, the group tore into the various pizzas as they walked back towards the temple. "Do you think this slumber party is a good idea?" Blake asked Steven. "Of course," Steven said nonchalantly. "Nothing could possibly go wrong!"

 **Author's note:**

 **So, writer's block unexpectedly plagued me for the last week, so this is coming out later than it should have. Oh well, no RWBY fanfic is complete without a slumber party chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter should come out much quicker than this one. On a side note, how are you all enjoying the Summer of Steven Steven Bomb? Personally, I think Mr. Greg is one of the show's best. On the RWBY side of things, 92 days until Volume 4 premiers. I can feel the hype train starting to get revved up. Anyway, thank you to not only just my followers but to everyone who took the time to read this far. As always, stay fabulous!**


	9. Chapter 9: It Sinks In

Chapter 9: It Sinks In

"Pleeeeeeeaaaasse?" Steven begged on his knees. "Now Steven, you know full well that this number and type of company can only lead to a disaster," said Pearl, hands on her hips. Unable to keep a straight face, Steven broke down as Amethyst changed back into her own form, howling with laughter. "How long do you think Pearl will take this time?" Steven asked. Garnet walked over to the counter where Pearl's gemstone was. "We had an agreement before we left," she said, "which was we'd come back no later than three days, so as to have the best chance of succeeding our mission." "So, she'll be back day after tomorrow and then we can go hunt the gem monster?" Steven asked excitedly. Garnet smiled, "that's the plan."

At about 6:30, everything was set. After a long debate with Garnet, Steven had finally convinced her to let them have the party in Rose's room. The living room had been too small, outside was too sandy, and even Greg's van could only seat seven comfortably at the most. Steven had finally managed to convince Garnet that he now had complete control over the room's power. Garnet, however, looked into the future and saw that only 15% of the possible outcomes led to horrible disfiguration for the huntresses, so she finally agreed. Steven had left Team RWBY to their own devices while he set up everything. He first set up 9 mattresses in a circle (a double sized one for Garnet.) In the middle, Steven had then created an alarmingly large stack of board games, along with an underground cellar and freezer to keep all the snacks in. Speaking of snacks, Steven quickly dashed out of the room to see what they had. Luckily, he arrived right before Amethyst started her regular pantry/fridge raid. "Amethyst, we need all this for tonight!" he told her. "Oh come on, Steven! Just one bite!" Amethyst changed her mouth so that it turned into the size of Steven. "Amethyst, I really need all this. If you really feel like eating, why don't you go down to the Big Donut and raid their dumpster for old donuts again?" "Great idea Steven!" Amethyst took off out the door as fast as she could. In the distance, Steven heard a thud and a cry. "Oh, sorry Ruby!" he heard Amethyst call.

It was now 7:00, and everyone was seated on the couches, floor, or counter, waiting for the arrival of Peridot and Lapis. However, everyone was quite shocked when they finally warped into the temple. Earlier, Peridot had taken the liberty of researching slumber parties on her new tablet. And as a result, she and Lapis were both wearing fluffy onesies and each sported a large braid in their hair. Peridot was wearing an expression identical to Garnet when she first saw Stevonnie, and Lapis looked like she'd been forced to permanently change her name to Bob. "You two look...nice," Yang said awkwardly. Ruby on the other hand was awestruck. She rushed over to Lapis and Peridot and began feverously examining their braids. "How did you get it...always tangle this part...oh that's so elegant," Ruby suddenly looked up at Weiss. Weiss thought a moment, and then opened her eyes in terror. "Oh no, no way Ruby," she said, backing away. Ruby, however, got a mad gleam in her eye. She readied herself, then lunged at Weiss as fast as she could.

A few moments later the cartoon cloud obscuring everyone's vision lifted. Ruby looked extremely please with herself. "Ruby! This...is actually quite beautiful. Thank you," Weiss said, smiling at her training partner. "Alright, let's do this," Steven said. He walked to the Temple door, and opened it to Rose's room. Garnet and Amethyst merely walked in, but the rest were stunned by the room. "It's like, a world made out of cotton candy," Ruby said, kneeling down and feeling the soft and fluffy ground. The group settled into the circle of mattresses, with some complications. Lapis moved multiple times so that she wasn't beside Peridot, who seemed keen to be bunk mates. Ruby chose the mattress between Steven and Yang. The former was beside Garnet and the latter by an enthusiastic Amethyst. This meant that Weiss reluctantly settled between Lapis and Blake, who had Peridot on her other side.

"Alright! Now that we're all settled in, I declare this party officially started!" There was silence, until Garnet broke it with a monotonous, "woo hoo." Hmmm, maybe we need more of an atmosphere, Steven thought as he looked around at everyone around him. "Room, I want a wild party room!" Steven declared. Immediately, the clouds were replaced by a medium sized room complete with a dance floor, bar, turn tables, and a disco ball. That's better, but there's still something missing, Steven thought, completely ignoring the looks of awe from Team RWBY. He slightly heard Garnet explain the properties of the room as it hit Steven. They needed music! "Room, I want a DJ!" Steven requested. Immediately a tall boy with a pale blue hoodie appeared. "Hey Steven," Sour Cream waved casually as he began firing up all the DJ gear. "That's much better," Steven said in a satisfied way, "now what should we do first?" "Well according to a brief information reconnaissance on my newly acquired tablet, popular choices for slumber parties include Truth or Dare, board games, and something called strip poker..." "What's that last one about?" Steven asked innocently. "You don't need to know. It's not at all fun," Yang said hurriedly, "that's only for lame parties." Blake gave her an inquiring look, but Steven simply nodded. "Okay then. How do you all feel like Golf Quest Mini: The Board Game?" He pulled a box from the pile in the centre and began to set it up. "This looks childish," Peridot said dismissively.

Thirty minutes later, the entire group was completely engaged by the various figures and cards on the board, where Peridot was having a very intense battle against Yang. "You fool, prepare for annihilation! My wedge uses chip, which means the ball lands straight on the green. You only have ten yards left!" Yang smiled. "Not bad, Perimore. But you've made one fatal mistake!" Peridot's eyes opened wide. "No! You can't!" Yang grinned her evil grin. "Oh but I can! You've just activated my trap card! Sand trap, that is. Looks like you lose a turn, and you're accuracy harshly fell!" "Ooooooh! Power play!" Amethyst whooped, beating her mattress like a drum. "And, because this match is par 4, my 3-Wood just evolved into a 5-Iron, doubling it's stats!" Yang beamed as she admired her work at defeating everyone and winning the Magikup. Peridot began thrashing around on her bed, growling profusely. Steven looked worried. "Room, I want something that Peridot can take all her anger out on." A miniature punching bag appeared. Periodot immediately charged at it on all fours. Crashing into it, she howled in victory as it went swinging in the air. Unfortunately, it predictably came swinging back and knocked the poor gem clean off her gravity connectors. "Is she alright?" Weiss asked, looking concerned. "She'll be fine. Let's try doing something else," Garnet said.

"Oh, how about this. It's a game Connie and I made up. Room, I want some paper and a pencil for everyone!" The room obliged. "When I was at Connie's, she had all these cue cards in her room from when her mom was teaching her a bunch of stuff. I didn't get most of it, but we made a game out of me trying to guess." "So, how do actually play?" Amethyst asked. "Well, the first person writes something. It could be a tree, or a lake, or a giant dragon Watermelon Steven. Then, you pass the paper to the next person, who draws the thing. Then they fold the paper so the next person can't see the first bit of writing, and they write out what they think the drawing is. Everyone takes a turn until the paper gets back to the first person, and we compare the before and after." Amethyst suddenly looked like she had a great idea. "Hey Garnet, can you trade spots with Peridactyl for this one?" "Why do you want that?" Peridot, now calm again, asked. "Because if anyone's gonna mess this up at the last minute, it's you with your little touch stumps.

After a bit a hot debate, the game finally got going, with Peridot now occupying the double sized mattress beside Steven. Steven decided it would be safest if he went first. He thought for a moment, then wrote down "Muffin with a Jetpack." He smiled, and passed the paper to Ruby. She stifled a giggle, and began to draw. Unfortunately, her drawing skills were somewhat lacking, and her image came out looking more like a fat guy eating a really long pickle. This went on until the paper finally got to Peridot. She looked at the drawing, and scoffed dismissively. "Well this is completely obvious." "So what is it Peridot?" Steven asked. "Well clearly, it's a lake infested by centipeetles who are all overweight from eating cakes grown on the shoreline by a sad fat volcano with no friends! And there's also a beetle." Everyone burst out laughing. "I think you may have messed up a little," Steven said, looking at the drawing himself. "Nice one," Lapis said, joining in the laughter.

As everyone continued to berate an increasingly irate Peridot, Steven went over to talk to Lapis. "You know, we've been here for about an hour now, and you're still here," he said. She looked at him. "I guess, I've actually ended up really enjoying myself. It's nice to be somewhere where you don't have to worry about anything important for a while. Steven, thank you for inviting me here." She offered him a genuine smile, which caused Steven to melt inside from happiness.

"I'm telling you! You could not lift my scythe by yourself!" Ruby argued. The rest of the group's conversations had deteriorated from teasing Peridot to trying her trying to convince them all that she was to be feared. "Could to! I would just need to apply some logic to find the-" but before she could finish her unlikely claim, the whole group was startled by a knock on the door. "Ummm, who was that?" Blake asked, her bow seeming to perk up in fear. "I don't know, but we've nothing to fear," Garnet reassured her as she stood up. "We've got four well armed gems, four well armed huntresses, and if we fail I'm sure Peridot could make them laugh so hard they literally explode." "Hey!" Peridot shouted as Garnet approached the door. "Everyone ready?" She asked. Everyone drew their available weapons, except for Steven who'd only managed to summon his bubble. "Aw, not bubble! Shield!" he said dejectedly. "Alright, GO!" Garnet opened the door quickly, only to immediately stop in surprise. Standing in the door way was a rather tall, slender figure who held herself with a certain grace and delicacy. "I'm ready," Pearl said, uncharacteristically fiercely, "let's go!" She stood proud, until she looked into the room. Confidence was instantly replaced by a look of the utmost horror. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ROSE'S ROOM?" She shrieked.


	10. Chapter 10: Back To Remnant

Chapter 10: Back To Remnant

Pearl stood there, trembling like crazy. She looked like she'd swallowed a bomb that was seconds away from detonating. Garnet, thinking of a plan, used Sapphire's future vision and weighed her options. "Steven," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "call Lion with your mind." Steven nodded, and concentrated. "Everyone else, stay completely still and quite," Garnet whispered to the rest of the room. They all obliged without question. Lion, come. Come on Lion, we really need you, Steven thought. A few moments passed. He was about to try again when he heard the sound of paw's on wood as Lion approached. The pink feline came into view, and sat right beside where Pearl was standing. She twitched in preparation to scream.

Garnet reacted with lightning quick reflexes. Before Pearl could let loose, Garnet grabbed her head and forcibly stuffed it into Lion's mane. Lion looked spooked as his mane began to shake uncontrollably. Pearl's body was also thrashing about like crazy like she was throwing a fit. Garnet kept her head in with one hand, while holding down her arms with the other. Eventually, she seemed to calm down. The mane stopped shaking and her body stopped thrashing. Garnet finally pulled Pearl back out.

"Garnet, I'm sure you had a very good reason for bringing everyone into Rose's room. Probably for hiding or for reenacting our battle plan," Pearl said calmly. "Nope," Garnet said, "we were having a party." Immediately Pearl was plunged right back into Lion's mane as she began shrieking like she was trapped in a plot hole again. While holding her in, Garnet addressed the rest of the group. "Alright everyone. Now that Pearl's back, we are out of vacation mode and back into hunting mode!" She said. Most nodded. Lapis looked bored, while Peridot looked nervous. Steven nodded, and began vanishing all of the party equipment in the room until it was completely back to its original fluffy pink self.

Once again, Pearl was finally brought back out when she seemed to calm down. She looked down at the ground, seemingly embarrassed. "I'm...I'm sorry everyone. I forgot that this is Steven's room now. And it's not my place to say what he can or can't do with it." Everyone was taken aback by Pearl's remorse and said nothing. Steven however walked over to Pearl and gave her a big hug. Pearl seemed startled, but then quickly returned his hug. Garnet smiled, and then embraced the both of them. "Alright, it's time to go," she said. "Yeah! Let's do-" but before Steven could finish, he was interrupted by a massive yawn. "What time is it?" Pearl asked. Garnet checked, "it's just after two in the morning." "Well then Steven and the others can't go! They'll be exhausted!" "Hey it's fine," Yang called, "if we fall asleep then Blake can kill anything with how loud she snores!" Blake looked furiously at Yang. "I do not snore!" she said indignantly. She looked around for support. Ruby suddenly became very interested with something on her skirt and avoided making eye contact. Weiss sheepishly started saying , "well..." Blake looked shocked. "Do I really snore?" She asked. Everyone nodded. "And don't even get me started on when it's hairball season!" Everyone laughed at the obvious joke, except Blake who still looked like she wanted to hit Yang with something hard.

"Why don't we just go now and have them meet us in the morning? Then we can get the low down on the giant dragon thing," Amethyst said, walking over to Garnet and Pearl. "Well, that's um...Garnet, what do you think?" Pearl asked, obviously nervous at the idea. "I think that it's a great idea," she replied. "But, what about-" Pearl started, but she was quickly cut off by a look from Garnet. "Remember the plan," Garnet whispered in such a low voice that only Pearl could hear her. Pearl looked uneasy, Amethyst looked confused, and Garnet turned back to the group.

"Alright, it's settled," she announced. "Steven and the huntresses will stay here and sleep until morning, where they'll meet us at the warp pad. The rest of the gems come with us right now," she said pointedly, looking at Lapis and Peridot. Lapis looked at Steven, who looked apologetically and nodded. "Fine," she said reluctantly. Peridot on the other hand flat out refused to go. "Oh it's all fine for you. Are all you clods forgetting you threw away my limb enhancements? What am I supposed to do, be used as bait?" "That's actually not a bad idea..." Amethyst said to herself. "No, but we may need your intelligence for planning a strategy," Garnet said, obviously stroking her ego. Peridot made that low under the breath giggling noise before nodding in agreement. "Alright! Gems, move out!" Pearl declared as she and the rest of the team left the room. Just as the door was closing they heard the warp pad presumably taking them back to Remnant.

"Room, set an alarm for 8:00AM. Make it loud so we're sure to wake up!" Steven instructed. A large alarm clock appeared showing the alarm was set, then vanished, waiting for 8."Alright guys, we should probably get to sleep," Steven said, summoning five mattresses once again and crashing face first into one. Ruby and Yang followed suit. Weiss was just about to do the same, when she noticed that Blake had gotten up and walked a ways into the clouds. Curious, Weiss quietly got up so as not to disturb her companions, and followed Blake. "What's wrong?" Weiss asked when she got to where Blake had sat down. "I'm worried about Remnant," she admitted. Weiss was surprised by how straightforward Blake was being. "You made me promise once to let you know everything that's bothering me, so here it is. That creature back home, I'm scared of what it could do. It could destroy Beacon, my first real home. It could destroy Vale, it could destroy all of remnant. It could even destroy this place! How are we supposed to stop it? What if we don't stop it? What if everything you and I love is gone forever?" Blake put her head in her hands out of sheer hopelessness. Weiss gave her a tentative hug, which Blake gratefully embraced. "We won't let that happen. The Gems seem to have a plan, and whatever it is, it'll work. I just know it will. We'll finish this, together," Weiss said reassuringly, partly to Blake and partly to herself.

She helped Blake up, and the two walked back to the sleeping circle. Everyone else had fallen asleep already, so the two laid down as quietly as possible. Blake, feeling much better, curled up and fell asleep quite quickly. Weiss however was restless, worrying about tomorrow. Whatever happens, follow Pearl. She'll know what to do, Weiss thought as she finally drifter into a deep, deep sleep.

Steven awoke the next morning feeling ready to take on the world. "Room, what time is it?" he asked aloud. The room created a large alarm clock showing 7:59. "Uh oh! Room, cancel the ala-" But before he could finish his sentence, the clock struck eight in the morning. Immediately, the room started playing music very, very loudly to wake everyone up. Unfortunately, Steven hadn't specified what music to wake them up, so the room shuffled through a bunch, splaying a few seconds before skipping to the next one.

 _And I know in my gut it's been worth the $5.95_

 _And it's a full time admiring all the ways you're inspiring_

 _CCCCAAAARRRRAAAABBBBIIIIIIIINNNEEEEERRRRR!_

"ROOM! CANCEL ALARM!" Steven shouted at the top of his lungs. The music immediately stopped. Team RWBY had all jolted out of bed and immediately covered their ears. Blake ended up burying her head under her mattress to protect her cat ears. "Sorry, sorry, I completely forgot about that!" Steven said apologetically as all his friends rubbed their ears from pain. "It's alright, at least the music was tasteful," Weiss said, as she had a secret appreciation for Indie rock. "Yeah, but what was up with that last one?" Yang asked. "Oh, that's just something my dad would have sang if we hadn't let him where his cherry sweater," Steven explained. "Um...wha?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to the side. "Ummm, never mind, it's a long story," Steven said hurriedly. "Anyway, let's get moving," Blake said, antsy to get this over with as soon as possible.

The company left the room and moved into the kitchen. After wolfing down anything they could find in the pantry, everyone did one last gear check. "Ruby, have you seen my right gauntlet?" Yang asked. "You left it on the sofa," Ruby said, trying to find the secret gravity dust clip she hid as a secret weapon in her hood. Yang walked over to the sofa and retrieved her precious gauntlet. "You're not getting away that easily! I'll be needing you for a long, long time," she told it lovingly as she placed it back on her right arm. Weiss made sure her rapier's cartridges were full, and Blake made sure Gambol Shroud was in tip-top condition. "Alright, everyone ready?" Ruby asked, re-assuming her role as the leader of her team. Everyone nodded. "Well then listen up. This will be the day we've waited for. The day when we push evil back from what's ours. One day, we may fall. But not like this! This day we fight! This day, we burn a hole so big in the face of darkness that it'll crawl back from whatever hole it climbed out of. And when it falls, I'll be proud to be standing along side my friends, comrades, brother, and sisters as we gaze upon something beautiful we've created: a free world!" Ruby panted slightly as she finished her speech. Everyone was moved, and Weiss even let a few tears fall down her face. Everyone stepped up onto the warp pad. Holding hands, they all took a deep breath. "Alright, go!" Steven said as he activated the warp pad.

They immediately appeared just on the edge of the emerald forest. Stepping into the open field, there was no sign of Garnet, Amethyst, Lapis, Peridot or Pearl. "Where do you think they are?" Weiss asked Steven. "I don't know," he replied. "I'll get to the cliff to see if I can spot them from up there." Steven dashed off and jumped over the broken bridge. "I know it's not really the time, but it does feel good to be back home," Ruby said. Blake and Yang both nodded in agreement, but Weiss was too busy looking for the gems. Even though she'd had a great time in Beach City, Ruby had found that there were certain things at home that you just couldn't find anywhere else. Whether it was the way the air smelled, the way the trees sounded, or a neighbour asking to borrow syrup for the umpteenth time because a certain someone had drank it all.

Steven quickly reappeared, touching down right where he'd just been a minute ago. "They're at the school, and it looks like the gem monster is headed that way too!" "We'd better hurry," Yang said. The group took off at top speed, with Ruby one again carrying Steven. They arrived at the school shortly afterwards. There, they found the gems fighting off the largest horde of Grimm ever. The entire school seemed over run with them. "Guys! We're here!" Steven called. The gems turned around. "Just in time too! Here it comes!" Garnet called. Just as the first Beowolf from the horde lunged, the Gem Grimm gave a mighty roar as it flew overhead. But instead of attacking, it flew straight by and, to Team RWBY's utmost horror, flew head first into Beacon, punching a huge hole in the school and releasing even more Grimm.

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, we're finally back to the plot! I'd almost forgotten this story had one :) Anyway, happy tenth chapter to all of my beautiful followers. With my very short attention span, I thought I'd have completely given up on this by now. But from the amazing support this story has gotten as well as pure magic, we've made it this far. The good news is the rest of the story is completely planned out, so we'll definitely reach the conclusion one day. Happy halfway point of Summer of Steven, I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I am. Tomorrow's episode is "Steven vs. Amethyst" and I am on the edge of my seat to see what happens, especially with "Crack the Whip's" ending. As always, stay fabulous and have a beautiful day!**


	11. Chapter 11 Part One: Battle of Beacon

Chapter 11. Part 1: The Battle of Beacon

Ruby stared in horror as one of Beacon's towering spires collapsed to the ground. The Corrupted Grimm roaredin triumph as he circled back, preparing to slam the building again. But before anyone could do anything, the horde of Grimm charged the waiting group. "Gems, Go!" Garnet said, lunging at the nearest Ursa and bashing skull. Pearl and Amethyst immediately obliged, moving to a nearby pair of Boarbatusks and began tearing into them. "Bumblebee! White Ro- I mean Ice Flower, go!" Ruby commanded. The respective pairs dived head first into the oncoming horde and began their assault. "Steven, commence special tactic!" Steven directed himself, who happily obliged. With all the force he could muster, Steven leaped over the battle taking place in the courtyard. Slowing himself down, he landed on part of Beacon's roof, right in front of the oncoming Corrupted Grimm. "STOP!" He yelled, pulling out his shield. The monster merely snorted and continued barrelling towards the school. Without hesitation, Steven dove in front of the beast, shield outstretched. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for impact.

Steven was immediately thrown back, pinned in the air by the monsters' momentum. Instinctively Steven formed his bubble right before he and the beast smashed into another part of Beacon. Quickly activating the spikes on his bubble, Steven heard the Corrupted Grimm roar in pain. It raised a claw and swatted the pink bubble away. Steven landed right in the middle of the Grimm pile below, falling onto a couple of Beowolves and squishing/piercing them in the process. The Corrupted Gem gave an angry shriek as it started turning back to the school for another assault. "I don't get it!" Blake yelled as she drove her weapon right through a rampaging Griffons' head. "Why does it keep attacking the school?" "Who cares? We have to stop it before it destroys the whole school!" Ruby cried, slashing a King Taijitu in half, killing both heads immediately. "Yang, quick! You have to-" But what she had to do, Yang never found out. At that moment, the Corrupted Grimm put on a huge burst of speed and dove at the fortress of a school. With an unimaginable force, the creature tore right through Beacon like it was made of paper. With a heart crushing groan, the enormous towers started to crumble. Team RWBY could do nothing but stare in horror as their school fell, almost in slow motion, collapsing to the ground. Beacon was destroyed, completely levelled.

And from the pile of rubble, all that was left of the once great school, emerged the reason the Corrupted Grimm had been trying so hard to open up the school. Out of the rubble emerged a horde of Grimm even bigger than the one the group was fighting in the courtyard. Except, these Grimm were all Death Stalkers, Nevermore which were furious with being unable to fly, and Beringels, who shook the earth as they pounded it with their fists. "Where did all those Grimm come from?" Steven yelled. Everyone seemed too utterly shocked to answer him. In fact, everyone of them just stood there, eyes wide open, completely frozen in fear. "You guys, we have to keep fighting!" Steven called out. None of them answered, none of them moved, even with the first horde of Grimm circling them, ready to begin a fresh assault. "Everyone, snap out of it!" Steven cried in desperation. When they still refused to move, Steven dove towards the tightly knit group. He managed to activate his spiked bubble just as the Grimm lunged.

Inside the bubble, everyone still just stared at what was once Beacon, gone in a matter of minutes. Steven still couldn't get them to move, even with Grimm throwing themselves at the bubble, regardless of the spikes. Unable to think of anything else to try, Steven joined the others in watching the Corrupt Grimm approach. It swooped down and opened its massive mouth, entrapping countless Grimm inside. As it made a swallowing motion, Steven noticed that it grew even bigger, with more spikes, bigger claws, and it seemed to have developed a giant stinger on the end of its tail. At this frightening sight, Garnet and Pearl seemed to finally snap out of the trance. "Steven's right," Garnet said, "we still have monsters to kill." However, she said it with a bit of an edge, like their was a spark inside her that she was itching to unleash. "Alright, here's the plan," Pearl said. She leaned in so only Steven, Amethyst and Garnet could hear her. "Alright, are you all ready?" Garnet asked. The Crystal Gems nodded. "Team RWBY, are you ready?" While speech still seemed beyond them, all the huntresses managed to give a nod. Everyone readied their weapons. "Alright. Steven, lower the bubble!" The bubble disappeared, and the group was buried in a pile of Grimm.

All of a sudden, they were all thrown back by a blinding pulse of light. In the newly formed clearing, the Crystal Gems had been replaced by two looming figures. "Well, isn't this a beautiful day to kick some monster butt?" Smoky Quartz asked aloud, forming their powerful yo-yo. "I couldn't agree more, my little darling," Sardonyx replied, creating her massive war hammer with one set of arms while stretching out with the other. "Look out! It's coming back!" Yang shouted. Everyone turned to see the now larger Corrupted Gem coming back for seconds. "Leave that to the fabulous gem that is myself!" Sardonyx said. Everyone else resumed fighting the lower horde, falling Grimm after Grimm, spurred on by their rising desire for revenge. Sardonyx on the other hand, made her advancements on the oncoming giant monster. She chose a SPECIFIC Ursa to smash on the head, using the upward momentum to propel herself into the air. Next she made the INTELLIGENT decision to avoid an incoming Nevermore by diving back to the ground. She made a quick calculation on her path to the Corrupted Grimm, which turned out to be very ACCURATE. She performed a series of dives, rolls, jumps and ducks that were FAULTLESS, followed by an ELEGANT jump right in front of her target. In a CONTROLLED decent, Sardonyx aimed with the precision of a SURGICAL knife and delivered a GRACEFUL blow so POWERFUL it knocked the creature high into the sky.

(Note: for full experience, imagine I Burn is playing during the next paragraph. Or better yet, pull it up on YouTube.)

While the beast was still flying limp in the sky, Ruby and co. Had started moving through the crowd of Grimm. Their aim was the massive beasts that had come out of the school. Being the most deadly, they would undoubtedly bring unwanted power to their massive foe. Moving in a line, Yang lead the charge, punching through any Grimm that made the mistake of impeding their progress. Next was Weiss, using a combination of gliffs and dust to prevent any Grimm from attacking from the side, although an Ursa Major did almost breakthrough her defences, had it not been for some quick shooting by Ruby. Behind their hooded leader and bringing up the rear was Blake, utilizing her ribbon to make wide swings with Gambol Shroud, effectively cutting down any Grimm they'd missed going forwards. They eventually made it all the way across the courtyard to the massive mountain of rubble, stopping right in front of a particularly large Beringel. As it raised its fists to smash Yang, she motioned for her teammates to leave it be. "I've got this," she said. The others nodded, as they went and charged one of the remaining Deathstalkers. Yang braced herself as she was smashed into the ground by the monster's two gigantic fists into the rubble. The Beringel let out a roar of triumph and began pounding its chest. It moved to start attacking the rest of Team RWBY. Out of the rubble, Yang burst out, eyes burning red. With a blood curdling battle cry she dove at the Beringel and hit it so hard it simply burst apart. Yang turned to face the rest of the monsters. "WHO'S NEXT?" she screamed.

(One more note: this paragraph is better suited for I May Fall)

Meanwhile, Smoky Quartz was showing off their impressive yo-yo tricks to the two dozen Ursi, Beowolves, Griffons and Boarbatusks that remained in the courtyard. "This one's called walk the dog," they said, letting the weapon roll across the ground before snapping it back so fast it split a beowolfs' head clean in two. "And then this one is the breakaway," they continued, destroying a couple more Grimm. "And finally, a personal modification of mine, the triple threat around the world!" Summoning two more yo-yos, they spun them rapidly around their head while charging the Grimm, slaughtering all that were left in the courtyard. "Thank you, thank you. You've been a wonderful audience," Smoky Quartz said suavely. They sank into a half bow half curtsy before splitting back into Amethyst and Steven. Steven raised his hand for a high five. "Worst gems?" he said. Amethyst grinned as she smacked Steven's hand in triumph. "Worst gems."

The two turned to watch Sardonyx prepare to strike the now falling Corrupt Grimm. Just as she was about to bring her hammer down, she paused. "Enough of this fancy talk. Now it's time to SMASH!" She yelled this last word as she brought the hammer down over the monsters' head. It spiked into the cobblestone below. It seemed to be in a daze as it attempted to stand up. But then something curious happened. Out of the Corrupt Grimm fell a Deathstalker and a Beowolf, and Steven could see a couple of spikes on the monsters' body retract. Sardonyx quickly destroyed these two new challengers just as the Corrupt Grimm found the strength to get up and start flying. Team RWBY, having finished off the remaining Grimm with the help of Yang's semblance, joined the group as Pearl and Garnet defused.

"Alright, listen up!" Garnet said. "I have a plan. Every time we hit the gem enough, a Grimm it's absorbed falls out and gem loses its power." "Yeah, uh pretty sure we all figured that out," Amethyst said dismissively. Pearl shot Amethyst a reproachful look that somehow screamed exposition. "Oh, gotcha," Amethyst nodded. "Anyway, here's the plan. Ruby, Weiss and Blake, you're going to get on the gem's back and dish out as much punishment as possible. You'd better use gliffs to make sure you don't fall off. Amethyst and Pearl, you fuse. Your bow should help take down the gem even faster. Finally, Yang, Steven and I will follow you, destroying any Grimm that you release, to make sure their not absorbed again!" Everyone nodded. "Alright, let's do this!" Yang and Garnet gauntlet bumped, the rest of Team RWBY discussed the best placements for the three of them on the back of the Corrupt Grimm, and Amethyst and Pearl disappeared into a ball of light and emerged as a giant woman.

Steven, deciding that he wanted to lead the charge this time, stepped in front of the group. "I just wanted to say that, I think everyone here is now a Crystal Gem," he said, looking at Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Weiss. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl all nodded. The huntresses blushed and looked at the ground, smiling. "And with that in mind," Steven continued, "Crystal Gems, let's go!" Everyone joined in a war cry as they charged, chasing down the flying death in the sky ahead.

 **Author's Note:**

 **For those of you unfamiliar with what a Beringel is, it's the giant ape Grimm from the Volume 4 trailer. If you haven't seen that yet, go watch it on YouTube as it is amazing! Final week of Summer of Steven, and what a ride it's been! I wish you all enjoyment in the final few episodes of Season 3, and as always, stay fabulous!**


End file.
